The Wolf Queen
The first thing that Samantha Carter, Major in the United States Air Force, noticed about the planet she and her teammates stepped out into was the sheer industrialization. The MALP – the mobile probe they sent through the Stargate before sending a human team through – had shown the buildings but she had underestimated their scientific advancement.
"Are those hovercars?" Jack O'Neill, Colonel in the same force as Sam, asked as he pulled off his olive drab hat to wipe his forehead. The planet's sun was surprisingly close for habitable life to form, and they must have been in the tropical zone of this planet, because the temperature was easily in the mid 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and that was in the shade.
"Those do indeed look like hovering transports," Teal'c replied, nodding his bald head as he observed the varying people scurry past with nary a glance at the four strangers that had stepped out of a large ring and into their planet.
The last member of the group shifted his backpack and Sam knew that Daniel Jackson wanted to get out his notebook and start taking notes. "This is fascinating, how fascinating! That looks almost Tollan in origin, yet is emblazoned with Egyptian hieroglyphics…."
The DHD was perched upon a separate pedestal on the plinth that supported the Stargate. Sam moved towards it and dialed Earth's address again, re-establishing a wormhole with her home planet. Once it connected, she sent her code through to open the protective Iris and then shoved the MALP through the gate. "Walter, MALP incoming. See it?" she asked, double checking that the probe had made it through alright.
"Got it!" SSgt Walter Harriman replied from through the wormhole. "Have a good trip!"
The hovercar that Teal'c had spotted in the distance was zooming closer. "Heads up, folks, it looks like the welcome wagon approaches," O'Neill said as he took a step towards the end of the plinth that the Stargate was on.
The diplomatic team of SG-6 had cleared the way for SG-1 to come and do a 'cultural exchange' with the leaders of the local city, the name of which translated to The Wolf's Howl in Arabic. According to SG-6, the residents spoke passable English but were fluent in Arabic. They could, however, not read the books that SG-6 had on the history of Earth that were written in English.
The hovercar pulled to a stop in front of the gate and a group of people piled out. The first two must have been the leader and his consort, because the man had the largest and fanciest hat of the group, and in the unofficial rulebook of the SGC, that meant important. Funnily enough, the man to the rear of the group in what looked like religious robes had the words 'Read Me' emblazoned upon his chest, written in perfect – if sloppy – English.
"I thought you said they couldn't read English?" Sam asked Daniel as Jack went through an elaborate hand shaking routine that included the touching of hand to head, hand to rear, and hand to foot. She was glad that the time that SG-6 had drilled the group on the customs of Wolf's Howl had paid off.
"As far as I know, they can't," Daniel said, wandering over to the hovercar and starting to translate the hieroglyphs along the side. After a moment he gave up, realizing that it only read what he thought was 'Wolf's Howl Mayor.'
"Welcome, welcome! It is so nice to meet friends from other worlds, it is not often we have someone come through the Great Ring who wants to exchange culture instead of goods. My name is Mkumb, I am what your SG-6 team called the Mayor of Wolf's Howl," the man with the biggest hat said as he demonstrated the new trick he picked up from SG-6, hand-shaking Earth style.
The man in the Read Me robe in back stepped forward. "And I am Arbiter Saleem, in charge of our temple district and library."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Daniel said as he eyed the robes. "It sounds like you are a scholar."
"I am," Saleem confirmed, with a nod of his hooded and obscured head.
Daniel leaned forward a bit. "Can I ask you a question then? I am a student of history and languages, and the writing on the front of your robe is a language I recognize – in fact, our whole team recognizes it. That is the most common language on our home planet."
Saleem and Mkumb exchanged glances, while a hooded figure standing behind Saleem whispered, "The prophecy!" The two statesmen turned to glare at the aide, then eyed the four from Earth. Finally, their eyes fell upon Sam.
"You don't think…" Saleem murmured, his eyes glued to the blond hair peeking out from under Sam's regulation Air Force field cap.
Mkumb sighed, his eyes catching the same thing before his view was blocked by a protective Teal'c who did not like the focus on one who he considered a sister. "There's only one way to find out. If she can read the sacred language…."
"You said that your name was Samantha Carter, yes?" Saleem asked, as though it was a foregone conclusion and he already knew the answer.
Sam exchanged glances with Daniel. "I hadn't mentioned it at all, actually, but yes. My name is Samantha Carter. How did you know that?"
Sheepish looks were exchanged between the two men native to Wolf's Howl. "It is a long story, Samantha Carter, but your arrival was foretold a millennia ago by our living goddess, the Wolf Queen. She gave a prophecy to one of our seers, speaking of a traveler with the goddess' own hair stepping through the great ring with hand outstretched in peace. The scholars who took the goddess' last words before she slumbered recorded your name, Samantha Carter, as the one who would free her." Mkumb said gravely. "For the people of Wolf's Howl, I must ask you to come with us."
"Hey, hey hey! Hold on a minute," O'Neill shouted as he wedged his way between Sam and the advancing Mkumb. "We came in peace, and now you want to kidnap one of my team?"
"Kidnap?" Saleem said, his voice shocked. "Who said anything about kidnapping? We merely want her to come to the temple grounds and see if she can read something for us. You all are more than welcome to attend, but it is Samantha Carter that was prophesied."
Jack pulled Sam and Daniel by their backpacks over to in front of the Gate; Teal'c followed. "Ok, conference. Do we want to go with the creepy prophecy guys or do we want to skedaddle back through the gate to home?"
"A prophecy where they know my name, even though we hadn't mentioned who was coming to them? Sounds awfully suspicious, but we should investigate so we know what's going on." Sam weighed in, giving her two cents to her CO.
"If we leave before we find out what's going on, who knows what will happen to our relationship with this planet? This civilization is the most advanced on the planet and we need to work with them if we want to develop trade relationships with anyone here…."
"I know, meet the cultural expectations of the local community," O'Neill said in a tone that sounded like he was quoting something heard several times over. "Teal'c, I want you on Sam's six through this mission, keep her safe from these people if it should go south."
"Hey, I can take care of myself, you know," Sam interjected over Teal'c's affirmative response.
O'Neill sighed "I know that, but another set of eyes watching out for you makes me feel better."
"Fine," Sam acquiesced to the guard with a huff that was completely undignified but made her feel better. "Can we get back to the meeting? I think Danny's going to pee his pants with excitement if he jigs about any longer." Indeed, the archaeologist was bouncing up and down, trying to contain his excitement.
"Alright. Just…. Keep your wits about you, and stay safe." And there was the kindness in those eyes that Sam loved so much.
The group headed back to the welcoming committee and Sam addressed the waiting men. "Alright, take me to your temple, and we'll see what is going on there," she told Saleem.
The two men from Wolf's Howl eagerly looked at each other, then gestured towards the hovercar. It easily could fit everyone in their group.
And so, with a rev of the engines, the hovercar lifted off and proceeded into the city center.
"….and this, my dear friends, is the Temple of the Wolf Queen," Saleem said as they approached the simple white building in the heart of the city. It was low-built, sunk into the ground, and SG-1 followed the robed man as he stepped down into the temple's center.
The inside was dimly lit with gold, and the middle of the temple was dominated by a bier. There was a blond woman laid out on the bier, almost as if she was dead, save for the visible rise and fall of her chest. Floating in midair next to the bier, hovering above pedestals set into the altar that the woman was resting on, were a few mundane items that Sam recognized…. A rucksack made of brown leather, a dollar-store spiral bound notebook with 'Read Me' written on it, an old flip-style phone, and a pocket watch, all hovered placidly in the golden light that surrounded them.
"There it is again, 'Read Me,'" Sam pointed at the journal.
"Yes, that is where we get the sacred language from, it is the Sacred Tome of the Queen," Saleem said as the journal rotated in the golden light.
Hardly something to call a sacred tome, Sam mentally mused as she looked at the cheap notebook.
"Here, follow me," Saleem motioned toward a brightly lit alcove to the left of the bier. As the group followed the Arbiter into the side room, Sam took in the magnificent mural that covered the walls. It was of the woman who lay on the bier, dressed in the exact same dress as she wore now, white and flowing. She stood surrounded by golden light, arms outstretched as what could only be robots were caught up in the golden spiral.
"The Mosaic," the four members of SG-1 could hear the capital letters in those words, "was created over five hundred years ago to commemorate the Wolf Queen's greatest triumph, her victory over those who exterminate life."
"So, what can you tell us about the Wolf Queen?" Daniel asked, pulling out his notebook and a pencil to take notes. "And who was that woman out there?"
Saleem bowed in the direction of the bier. "That is the living goddess herself, the Wolf Queen. This is her home. She's slept here for one thousand years, waiting for the one who could restore her to her loved one."
"Her loved one? How would someone still be alive after one thousand years?" the archaeologist asked.
Saleem laughed. It was rare for him to meet someone who was completely unaware of the Wolf Queen. "Alright, let us have a recitation of the memories…."
First came the golden light, seeping through a crack in the sky. A female figure floated through the sky out of the crack, settling to the sandy desert floor. The people gathered around the golden figure, watching as bolts of light shot from extended hands, sealing the crack in the sky.
With the howling of canines echoing in her voice, the golden figure spoke. "I am known by many names, throughout many times. What you choose to call me is your choice, but I charge you to keep me safe. In a millennia, when you meet travelers from another world, they will have the answer as to how to awaken me."
The golden figure turned to look up at the sky. "For now, I must hide myself. My love must not know I exist yet, that I have returned to this universe." The golden light faded from her form, revealing a woman with blond hair wearing a white dress and carrying a rucksack. With the retreat of the golden light, the woman collapsed.
The four members of SG-1 reared back in shock as the memories that were playing in their mind faded. It was like they had been in the desert themselves. Sam could feel the sun on her face, the shifting sand beneath her feet, and she distinctly remembered being there.
"What was that about?" O'Neill asked angrily, hating having someone mess with his head at all.
"We are slightly telepathic, and share a genetic memory from our ancestors. Now you see why we reacted so when you arrived. Those thousand years have passed, and you have the same golden hair that the Wolf Queen has. When you responded to the name Samantha Carter, I had to hope," Saleem gestured to the aide that waited in the doorway. "Bring a copy of the Sacred Tome and the Prophecy of the Wolf to me," he ordered the figure. The aide bowed and walked away.
Saleem was looking out the door at the bier. "Saleem, how could that be the same woman? How is she still alive, let alone looking exactly as she did then?" Sam asked as she stepped over to stand beside her.
"We have no idea. Perhaps because she is a goddess, she does not age? Her power must have been immense, to destroy the ones who exterminate life with just a wave of her arm."
"And why do you call her the Wolf Queen?" Sam asked.
"Did you hear the howling in her voice? To us, it sounds like a dog, and the greatest dog we have is a Wolf," Saleem smiled.
It sounded like wolves…. Sam thought. The howling in her voice…..
The aide returned, followed by a large crowd of what must have been everyone in the facility, carrying a metal sheet that was covered with legible English writing. "This is a copy of the text from the Sacred Tome and the Prophecy of the Wolf, Samantha Carter," the aide said with awed eyes as he looked at the Major. "Please, wake her up…."
"Makesh! Back to your post!" Saleem scolded. "Everyone, back to work!" No-one moved at all. All eyes were on Sam.
Sam took the metal sheets. The first one was covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics and she passed it to Daniel. He began to translate it. "The Prophecy of the Wolf Queen, as told by Adeem ibn Saadd," the archaeologist announced. The crowd gathered close. While this was one they had heard before, the Prophecy was always something interesting to hear. They seemed to be at the time of its fulfillment right now. Daniel began to read.
The Prophecy of the Wolf Queen, as told by Adeem ibn Saadd, Hear this and know, the Wolf Queen shall awaken! The one from the other world, with hair the color of spun gold, will come. Samantha Carter shall awaken our Queen and allow Her to return to Her love. The Wolf Queen and the Oncoming Storm, together again! They will travel the stars and transcend time. Together forever, the Wolf Queen and the Oncoming Storm! Daniel looked up from the metal sheet and met Sam's eyes. "It has your name in here, Sam, just like I showed you how to write."
Sam was slightly unnerved as she bent her head to read the other metal sheet.
December 31, 2104. Greetings to whoever reads this. I have been known by many names throughout my life, but first I was born as Rose Tyler. That name has come and gone, along with Thorn, Mother Wolf, and Bad Wolf. Call me what you like, as long as you awaken me. I have sealed away my essence, the most quintessential parts of my spirit, in the key. I cannot be discovered in this universe until the time is right, to maintain the timelines and prevent a paradox. If I did not seal away my Soul, my love could find me before our timelines crossed, and create the paradox that I fear. To awaken me, you must do one simple thing. Find the key, it shouldn't be far. I brought it with me from this universe when I fell into the parallel one I have lived in for the past two hundred and twelve years. If you find the key, place it on my chest and open it. I will awaken then.
Sam lowered the metal slate. The room was silent for a long moment before the crowd began to jabber in what sounded quite a lot like Arabic. Finally, someone transitioned to English, and the rest began to follow suit. "A key! A key! She will awaken!"
SG-1 had regrouped by the Gate, using their check-in with the SGC as a pretense to hold a miniature debriefing meeting. O'Neill paced in front of the gate as, on the other side, Walter Harriman connected General Hammond to their radios. Finally everyone was connected and the long debrief began.
After everything about the Wolf Queen was explained to Hammond – Daniel handling most of the exposition – O'Neill asked the question on everyone's minds. "Do we really want to help her wake up? She somehow knew over a thousand years ago that Sam would be here, on this planet, and picked the one with a good memory to make sure that her name wasn't lost."
"You said that this planet has stores of naquadah up in what the scientists are calling the badlands?" Hammond's voice said through their radios.
"Yes sir, it's the largest field that the Daedalus' sensors have picked up. If we can set up a trade for the naquadah… well, think of the things we could make!" Sam chimed in.
"Golden light…."
"What was that, Teal'c?" Daniel asked.
Teal'c thought for a moment. "The figure of the Wolf Queen was surrounded by a golden light in the memories that Saleem showed us. That is not technology to which the Goa'uld have access."
O'Neill reluctantly spoke up. "The Wolf Queen doesn't look like a Goa'uld in the memories that were left, and didn't do any of the normal arrive-conquer-enslave things that a Goa'uld would do."
The group was quiet for a moment before Hammond made an executive decision. "Help wake her up. If this goes sour, we can have the Daedalus in orbit in two days."
"Understood, Sir."
Sam and Daniel were back in the Temple, pouring over the metal sheet. "I don't know why she would call on me," Sam wondered aloud after reading the short missive for the fifteenth time with no further clues. "I've got no ideas."
"Well, she brought the key with her from the other universe, let's try looking at what she brought…" Daniel said, turning to the waiting aide in the corner. The shrouded figure must have been grinning happily as the only visible part of his face, his eyes, had crinkles of joy around them.
Sam turned as well and addressed the man. "We'd like to look over the Wolf Queen's gear, what she brought with her from the other universe that she spoke of."
The shrouded figure bowed and gestured to the main room. It was full of milling people; most of them were shrouded in the robes of the Temple. O'Neill and Teal'c had been standing at the door to the alcove Jackson and Carter had commandeered as their study, keeping the growing crowd out of the room.
O'Neill and Teal'c cleared a path and then a space in front of the artifacts. When Sam emerged from the alcove, the Temple began to fill with whispers. She heard her name repeated several times by different people.
The bier with the waiting Wolf Queen was right next to the display of artifacts. A horrified gasp tore through the crowd as all four artifacts were grabbed from the floating pedestals. "She cannot touch," someone in the crowd began, but Saleem shouted "Silence! Let Samantha Carter do what she must."
The bag was remarkably well preserved despite the fact that it was leather and had been sitting there for over a millennia. Grabbing a literal key on a necklace out of the bag, Sam scanned it with the device O'Neill mockingly called her tricorder. "No unusual energy readings… What if it's not literal?"
"I'll scan everything, you try the key," Daniel said as he took the scanner from her.
Sam nodded and walked up the steps to the bier. In a quick move she placed the key on the chest of the Wolf Queen. As she did so, she could feel the rise and fall of the Wolf Queen's chest with every breath, and the strangely rapid heartbeat.
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened.
And still, nothing happened.
Sam removed the key, looking disappointed that it couldn't be that easy. Leaving it sitting on the bier next to the female form, she descended into disappointed murmurs. "It couldn't be that literal. A key as a key?" She shook her head.
They worked in silence for the next fifteen minutes. The bag must have had some sort of modification because it was two times as big as it was supposed to be on the inside. Everything in the bag was scanned and set aside, nothing tripping the scanner.
The phone remarkably still worked. Sam punched in a number from memory and miraculously got the SGC's operator after only two rings, despite the complete and utter impossibility of that ever happening. When she tried the phone on the Wolf Queen's chest, opening it and closing it, nothing happened.
Finally they were down to the pocket watch. The scanner shrilled when Daniel held it up to the pocket watch Sam held. "An unknown type of radiation is emanating from the pocket watch…." Daniel trailed off and met Sam's eyes. "This might be it."
Sam took a firm grip on the pocket watch and nodded. Turning, she walked back up to the bier and laid the brass pocket watch on the chest of the Wolf Queen. Only now did Sam notice the engraving – To my Bad Wolf, love the Oncoming Storm – and the stylized wolf on the lid. She now felt surer than ever.
Laying the pocket watch on the woman's chest, Sam depressed the button on the handle. The lid popped open, and the world exploded into gold light. After a moment of gold warmth, Sam felt herself flying through the air. She braced for impact but was gently lowered to the ground in front of the awed crowd. Getting to her feet, the Air Force Major looked behind her to see the people of Wolf's Howl lowering themselves to their knees before their goddess.
The Wolf Queen was glowing bright gold, motes of light sparkling and flitting as they danced around her prone form. For a moment they seemed to hover in midair before being drawn into her body. Finally there was no golden glow left over, just a woman whose eyes were flickering for the first time in a thousand years.
The Wolf Queen opened her eyes.
Sitting up, her blond hair falling in waves over her shoulders, the Queen stretched as if waking from a brief nap, instead of a thousand year slumber. She eventually turned to get off the bier she was resting on, swung her legs over the side, and stood.
Sam took a few steps forward and then bolted to the Wolf Queen's side as the woman's legs gave out, weak after a thousand years of disuse. She managed to catch the Queen before she fell. "Thank you," a soft voice, raspy and quiet but unmistakably British, emanated from the Queen.
Sam nodded. "You're welcome," she said and let go when it seemed like the woman had her legs under her. "Do you know where you are?"
"Oh, Samantha Carter, I always know where and when I am. Thank you for waking me up," the Wolf pressed a brief kiss to Carter's cheek. "I knew I could count on you."
"What is your name? The people here call you the Wolf Queen, but you have a British accent…." Sam said as she trailed after the surprisingly diminutive blond.
The Wolf Queen turned and looked over her shoulder. "Rose, I was born Rose Tyler. Powell Estate, London, the UK, Earth. Married name is Noble, but just call me Rose. I haven't been Rose in quite a while…"
Sam looked at the newly rechristened Rose and started leading her through the crowd of kneeling spectators. "Danny, grab the scanner and her gear," she ordered, and the scientist stuffed all of the artifacts into the brown bag before giving it to Rose.
"Ta," the blond said before throwing the bag carelessly over her shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a ride to call."
"How? What technology do you have? Is there any way we can sit and talk with you?" Sam asked in a flurry of words as she strode after the other woman.
Rose was out the doors before she responded. "I can make a date to come back and talk with you, but any moment now my love is going to notice my presence in the Timelines and get suspicious. I'd rather call him here than having him come on his own. Let me get him here and we'll talk, alright Major?" Rose said and began to glow gold again. A brilliant bolt of light shot out into the dark night sky, illuminating the city of Wolf's Howl briefly before escaping into the darkness of space.
"What was that?" Daniel Jackson asked as he ran out of the temple.
Rose backed away from where she was standing by about ten paces before turning to look back towards the Temple. "A distress signal aimed at a very specific ship. It shouldn't be long now…."
The private conversation was interrupted by the arrival of ten men, nine wearing the 'Read Me' robes of the Arbiters and Mkumb the Mayor. "Major Carter, I knew you could do it!" Mkumb cheered as he approached and floridly bowed. "Most eminent one, I am Mkumb, the caretaker of this city, should it please you."
Rose smiled sweetly, the tip of a tongue poking out through her pearly white teeth. "You've done a wonderful job of taking care of this city, Mkumb," she said, patting the man on his shoulder.
"You are too kind, Queen of All," Mkumb demurred. Suddenly, as Mkumb spoke, a grinding WHIRR-WHIRR-WHIRR filled the air.
Amy Pond looked to Rory Williams as her Raggedy Doctor danced about the central console of the TARDIS. The Doctor was wearing a fez again, and as if he could hear her derogatory thoughts against the headwear, the man in question asked, "Aren't fezzes cool? Fezzes are cool."
"Very cool, Doctor, for a Sultan, not for a space/time traveler…." Amy's retort trailed off as the Doctor fell to his knees, gripping his head in his hands as the headwear toppled from his head. "Doctor? Doctor! Are you alright?"
Rory, ever the nurse, ran over from where he was leaning against the coral walls of the TARDIS and took a wrist in his hands, trying and then giving up on getting a pulse. He could feel the heartbeat, but the strange double beat from the two hearts defied his skills as a nurse. "Come on, Doctor, let's get you up." He bent to give the Doctor a supportive arm as the Time Lord stood.
"I can't! There's someone out there!" He looked from Amy to Rory, eyes wide with shock.
"Out where? I thought you said we were floating in the Vortex?" Amy half asked, coming over to stand next to her fiancé.
"Another Time Lord! Well, Time Lady actually, this song feels feminine." The blank looks on the faces of the humans made him elaborate. "Telepathic species, the Time Lords are. Were. We could sense each other, no matter where we are in Time and Space. It was so quiet," the Doctor trailed off, a heartbroken look on his face. He mercurially switched moods to jovial. "But now someone's there! I can sense her!"
At that word, every console screen changed and a bell started to chime. The screens now showed an elaborately designed circle, with lines running every which way within the circle. The image was displayed in an odd mauve color. Amy got nervous at the Doctor's sudden change in behavior. As soon as this image flashed on the screens and the bell started chiming, he immediately stopped his antics and began the process to set the TARDIS in flight. The serious look on his face scared her. "Doctor? What's that?" She recognized the image as coming from his native language, the one the TARDIS refused to translate when he bumped his head while repairing the console and started spewing what she assumed were insults.
"It's a mauve alert from the second planet in a nearby system, and we're being specifically targeted by the distress signal." The Doctor looked at the blank look on his two companions' faces. "A mauve alert is the ultimate intergalactic distress signal, and is to be used only in the most urgent of emergencies. And this is coming from our mysterious Time Lady, targeted at us. Us, and only us." His voice was deadly serious, the type of serious that the pair hadn't heard in quite a while. The Doctor flicked a switch and the TARDIS shook with movement.
The TARDIS landed with ease on the surface of a planet. "Odd, normally it's a lot rougher than that," The Doctor overheard Amy tell Rory. In her short time in the TARDIS, she'd been thrown about by the landings, but this one was as easy as cake.
The Doctor ignored his companions, his mind reaching out to the mysterious Time Lady on the planet. Hello! It's wonderful to feel your presence! He sent out waves of greeting as he strode towards the door.
All he got in return was a wash of mischief and… was that love? If it was, he was going to have words with this Time Lady on appropriate behavior. Not that he was one to talk but still, some things weren't done!
He threw open the doors to the TARDIS – for some reason she had been making them stick shut for longer than expected – and there in front of him stood a crowd of people, surrounding one entirely impossible person. "Rose!" he gasped in shock and had to cling to the doors to keep upright. His knees felt weak and his hearts skipped several beats. "How?"
She leaned back a bit, then he felt a tentative poke at his mind. The mysterious Time Lady was asking for information on who he was, and the Doctor gave her the mental equivalent of a photo album of his past incarnations. Perhaps she knew him in the past? Focusing on the impossible figure in front of him, the Doctor watched as Rose gathered her thoughts. "You're my Doctor… oh, but you regenerated again? I'm sorry I didn't recognize you at first…" She strode forward and caressed his prominent jawline. That felt good, to have her hands on his body. He noticed a worn gold band on one finger. A wedding ring… the Metacrisis Doctor must have had the guts to do what he couldn't.
"Rose…. How are you here, in this universe?" the Doctor desperately asked, voice cracking, and wishing Amy and Rory – he could feel them standing right behind him – weren't seeing his weakness here.
"It's a long story, Doctor… Maybe in the TARDIS? Let me say goodbye to the people here." Rose turned to go talk to the brown-skinned man in the big hat, but he pulled her close.
"Rose, there's a Time Lady here somewhere, very close in fact," the Doctor said as he looked at the crowd. "I didn't think any survived the War but I can sense her."
Rose sighed. "I know," she said, taking both of his hands in hers. As the Doctor looked at the blond curiously, she placed his hands on her breastbone. Thumpthump-thumpthump-thumpthump.
The Doctor's pale face went as white as a sheet. "Oh, Rose, this isn't possible…." He refused to hope, refused to believe what he was feeling. It wasn't a heartbeat, it was a heartsbeat. Two hearts.
"I am the Bad Wolf, and I create myself," she said as he felt her mental shields drop. He could feel her fully now, he could hear the wolves howling in her mind. How had he not recognized her mental presence? "I'll tell you more when we're in the TARDIS," she said before returning to stand in front of Mkumb.
"You are going home, most eminent one?" the man with the biggest hat around asked as he almost prostrated himself before the slight woman.
"I am, and I thank you for taking care of Wolf's Howl so well," Rose smiled. "I wish you the best of luck here."
That made Mkumb kneel down and bend his head. "Thank you for your blessing, Queen of All."
Rose hauled the man up to his feet. "Don't bow to me. You folks here took care of me for a millennia, and I should thank you for that. I'll be back to visit, don't you worry about that."
Sam spoke up here, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Can you come visit us? I have a lot of questions for you."
Rose nodded. "I guess I do owe you an explanation in exchange for waking me up."
"September 21st, we'll find you guys, wherever you are." The Doctor chimed in. That was two weeks from today, more than enough time to form the questions that were flitting around Sam's head.
"We'll see you then," O'Neill said. "Do you need a way to get through the gate? We can provide you with a code to let us know who is trying to get to Earth."
"Not necessary! We don't use the gate system," the Doctor said.
"Then how will you get home? And where is your home?" Daniel asked.
He didn't get his answer. Rose waved at everyone in the crowd, blew the cheering residents of Wolf's Howl a kiss, and then linked arms with the waiting Doctor. Together they stepped into the blue phone box and with another WHIRR-WHIRR-WHIRR, it vanished from sight.
Rose looked around the TARDIS. It had changed since the last time she had seen it, on that fateful day at the end of the world. Rory and Amy had scarpered to the media room, intending to watch a marathon of My Six Husbands, an intergalactic soap opera from Cull IV. When their footsteps disappeared around the corner, the Doctor turned to Rose. "Alright, we're alone now, what happened? You were happy in Pete's world, with the metacrisis."
"Don't call him that," Rose grumbled as she strode forward and stopped right in front of him. "His name was John Noble." Named after his favorite alias and Donna, nice touch, the Doctor thought. "Here, come see for yourself." Her mind reached out to his, and drew his mind into hers. He was treated to a presentation of memories.
Rose and John were running for their lives in a South American jungle. A bolt of pain flashed through Rose and the Doctor felt it as if it was his own. Memory Rose looked down to see her side covered in blood, a jagged hole in her leather jacket and blouse. She crumpled and John had to pull her to the side of the path, out of sight of their pursuers. John held her hand. "Hang on, Rose," he whispered, glancing down the path. "Torchwood is on their way, and they'll have doctors with them, just hang on and you'll be fine."
"I don't…. I don't think I can," Rose whispered as she drew her last breaths. Everything went dark, then a familiar golden light filled her vision. She was bathed in the golden light of regeneration, her wound fixing like it wasn't even there. Due to her focus on her current body, she maintained her previous looks.
"Rose! You're alright!" John caught her up in a tight hug, and then pulled back to look at her healed side. He took her pulse. He felt a thumpthump-thumpthump-thumpthump under his fingertips, confirming his suspicion. "You're a Time Lady, Rose… a Time Lady!"
A minute later they were running for their lives again, this time they made it out safely.
The memory changed to a hospital-type room, with a man in a lab coat holding a folder. He handed the chart to Memory Rose. "We need to classify these results, Mrs. Noble," he said, and the Doctor felt a flash of jealousy course through him. Of course she married the metacrisis, which would explain the wedding band. The Doctor then had to apologize as the memory paused and a flash of anger – Don't call him a metacrisis! His name was John! – came through their shared minds. The memory resumed. The folder had the results of a complete physical, showing two hearts, a temperature that was registering as beyond hypothermic according to human scales, and a little image of her new triple helix TNA strand that had replaced her DNA.
"I'll shred these results under my authority as head of medical services, but you know that hasn't stopped the old Torchwood crowd in the past. Keep yourself safe, Mrs. Noble, you've done a lot for this planet."
The memory changed again. John and Rose were sitting in their bedroom on the bed, holding each other's heads. So that explains how she learned telepathy skillfully enough to hide exactly who she was from him!
Again, a change. This time a clear shift in the timelines had happened. It was a funeral, and the TARDIS-blue coffin could only hold one person. Memory Rose, wearing a perception filter to mask her age, stood by as her husband's body was lowered to the ground. The priest said some platitudes but Rose wasn't focused on that. Instead, she was focused on the two burly men that had muscled up behind her. "Just come with us quiet like, Noble, or a lot of innocent people will get hurt today," one goon said. The other nodded and held out his jacket to show he was armed.
Memory Rose went quietly, not causing a scene, and was remanded into the custody of the Torchwood research department. She deliberately ended the memory there but he could guess what happened next.
The next thing Current Rose showed him was her rescue by the grandson of her brother, Tony III. She was helped out of her cell by the young man and to a Dimension Cannon he brought with him, and used it to return to this universe.
The Doctor watched as she realized that he would be able to sense her once the Time War happened, so she sealed the essence of her Time Lady self in the fob watch he got her on Coraxis VII.
They separated with a gasp, Rose stumbling backwards into the console and the Doctor staggering for a moment. Rose finally got her feet under her and stroked the console. "It's good to be home," she whispered. "That is, if it's still my home?" she added tentatively.
A warm golden presence met both of their minds as a wave of assent and belonging came from the ship around them. ~My thief, my wolf, together again and forever!~ the TARDIS said from within their minds.
"I think that answers your question," the Doctor said with a grin. "Of course you're welcome here, you're welcome for as long as you want to travel with me."
Rose grinned.
The party had lasted for the remainder of SG-1's three day mission. Going home had been a sad parting but the team had a standing invitation to return, as well as a very beneficial trade deal in the works. It was quite a unique going-away, complete with the attempted gifting of two camels and a sheep. After Daniel made the case that they couldn't possibly take care of the animals in a temperate environment, the citizens of Wolf's Howl let them leave without taking any livestock with them.
They left Wolf's Howl with the fanfare that would accompany a conquering hero, and returned to Earth and their jobs as ordinary members of Stargate Command. When they returned to Earth, they had a long debrief with Hammond about the events of their mission. The General made an executive decision to allow the meeting between his people and these strange aliens.
And so, two weeks passed in relative quiet. There were two more missions, each to planets that had already developed trade relationships and were most definitely a milkrun in O'Neill's book. September 21st creeped up quickly, and SG-1 was on the sunny beaches of their Alpha Site for some well-deserved rest and relaxation during what Hammond called an "Observation Mission." Ostensibly they were at the Alpha Site to conduct a review of security, but that was always the Base slang for beach time.
Teal'c was stoking a large fire that he and O'Neill built on the beach when a metallic WHIRR-WHIRR-WHIRR filled the air. About ten meters away, the now familiar blue box materialized into existence. The door slammed open and the Doctor bounded out, holding Rose by the hand. They looked happy, the Doctor dressed in a suit with pants that were slightly too short, and Rose dressed in a bikini and a sarong wrap, with a sun hat perched on her blond head. The Doctor held a plate with some sort of purple-skinned chicken on it, large enough to easily feed the group by itself. "Are we late for the barbeque? I brought a chicken from Epos Epos, they're more like dark meat then regular Earth chickens," the Doctor rambled as he foisted the bird off on Teal'c.
"You are in time," the former First Prime said as he took the bird. He ably added it to the spit that he had assembled and set it over the fire.
Rose smiled her tongue-in-teeth grin and spread a blanket out on the sand next to where Sam was sitting. She settled down on the blue cloth and looked over at the other blond. "So, how have you guys been?"
They shared stories of adventures in far off planets, trading information back and forth, all in a surprisingly peaceful atmosphere. Questions were asked, answers were given, and both parties came away from the meeting with good feelings about the other group.
"Here, it's the number to my phone," Rose said as she passed Sam a slip of paper as they packed up the barbeque site. "If you ever need anything, even if it's just to chat with someone who understands about traveling through space, give me a call."
"Thanks, Rose," Sam replied as they shared a hug.
Rose collected their blanket and the Doctor grabbed the remains of the purple chicken, and together they walked, hand-in-hand, back to the TARDIS.