Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
Author's Note: Here's the sixth episode of the Parallax series!
For those just dropping in, you might want to go back to episodes I – V and catch yourself up. Otherwise, this won't make a ton of sense, being an AU and all. The previous episodes can be found on my profile. Their titles are, in order:
Doctor Who: Parallax – I Won't Dance
Doctor Who: Parallax – Counting Stars
Doctor Who: Parallax – Shake It Out
Doctor Who: Parallax – King And Lionheart
Doctor Who: Parallax – Ghosts That We Knew
The Doctor didn't want to mention anything; he was hardly one to talk, after all; but Rose's obsessiveness of late had begun to worry him. After Torchwood had failed to locate Graham Chamberlain, The Doctor had agreed to spend some time looking for the perpetrator of the devastating attack on Torchwood One. After raising all manner of hell across six continents and at least two dozen Polynesian Islands, it had become clear that the man had ghosted. The Doctor wasn't inclined to admit their quarry had 'disappeared,' that was ludicrous, but it was obvious that Mr. Chamberlain was a man who wouldn't be found if he didn't want to be. When The Doctor had finally convinced Rose to drop the search, just for a time, things had gone from bad to worse.
He admitted he had been just as curious as she about Satellite Five, and so he'd agreed they ought to take a look, just in case. Turned out, there was no Jagrafess to be found, and The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire had, this time, been everything her first Doctor had promised. Not content with that, she'd insisted they jump ahead 100 years only to discover that The Gamestation didn't exist. Satellite Five was still Satellite Five, it was still broadcasting the news, and there was still no Jagrafess. She'd almost seemed disappointed, and he understood why. This was the only place she knew to look, and the absence of Dalek interference on Earth was not evidence of the absence of Daleks. She was slowly growing more frustrated, more paranoid, as each stone turned up nothing.
So, when they'd left Satellite Five and Rose had begun asking about the Dalek homeworld, The Doctor had immediately shut her down. Skaro was a radioactive wasteland after the War, deadly to humans and Time Lords alike, but his warnings didn't faze her. These last three days, lingering in the Time Vortex to make repairs, Rose had taken every opportunity to plead, threaten, or reason with him. At one point, she'd drug him into the Media Room to show him a PowerPoint presentation she'd made enumerating all of her arguments. She was growing increasingly desperate and anxious, and by this point, he denied her more out of concern for her obsession than because he had any legitimate counterarguments. She really was frighteningly adept in her logic when it was to her advantage to be so.
So, after Rose had gone to bed the night before, The Doctor had made something of an executive decision. Rose needed a break, something to take her mind off Chamberlain and the Daleks and the "other" companion (frankly, he'd thought the latter to be ludicrous, he'd no interest in taking on another companion; the notion of sharing her attention with anyone made him irritable). He'd contemplated a number of beautiful, relaxing places to take her, including Barcelona and Woman Wept, but in the end he decided he wanted to show her something new. He wanted to take her someplace she'd never been, and he wanted to get her out of the TARDIS and away from her PowerPoints and her hastily scribbled notes and, most importantly, away from the TARDIS library where she'd spent nearly every waking hour doing all her bloody research after he stopped answering her questions.
In the end, he could think of nothing more stunning, nothing that would put things more drastically in perspective, than a visit to the Eagle Nebula. Also called the Star Queen Nebula, it was a massive cluster of newly formed stars, protostars, and unfathomable expanses of molecular clouds that formed stars. It boasted numerous breathtaking formations such as the Pillars of Creation and the Stellar Spire. It was, in essence, an interstellar nursery, and he knew the only way to see it properly, other than aboard the TARDIS, was on a Class I Luxury Starliner. The implications of this horrified him, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He'd reconciled himself with the consequences and parked the TARDIS in the aft luggage compartment of the H.M.S. Aberdeen.
"Who are you, and what have you done with The Doctor?" Rose's voice shook him from his heavy introspection, and The Doctor looked up from the galley table to see her, freshly showered and already with a stack of references under one arm, staring at him like he'd grown a second head. He'd likely have been more comfortable if he had.
"Good morning, Rose," he acknowledged, ignoring her clearly rhetorical question and taking a sip of his tea. When she continued staring at him with equal parts confusion and fascination, he sighed and put down his cuppa. "There's a dress code on this trip," he informed gruffly, "If you haven't anything appropriate with you, you might want to pop by the wardrobe." She kept staring, and he began to feel just a little insecure, "'S there a problem?"
"No," she assured quickly, "No, 's just – Never seen you like that before." Rose had woken up that morning, having hardly slept for all the questions and plans running around her head, eager to take up her research once more and finally convince The Doctor to intensify their search. Now, the heavy volumes hung forgotten in her hands as she took in every detail of the dark, charcoal gray three-piece suit so finely fitted it would make a man walking out of a Savile Row tailor shop look like a hobo. He wore a midnight blue shirt underneath and no tie, the top two buttons left undone.
"Right, well, first time for everything," he grinned briefly and drained the last of his Darjeeling before standing and crossing to the sink. Rose watched him like a hawk the whole way, unable to stop her head tilting slightly to the side as her gaze traveled from the broad, angular shoulders down the lines of that incredible suit and his ridiculously long legs to the black wing-tips. Then, because the journey had just been so very lovely the first time, her eyes travelled back up. He had no right, no bloody right, to look that good. She was a bit late reacting when he finally turned around, hands in his pockets, and as she closed her gaping mouth and straightened her posture, she saw the slightly wry quirk to his lips.
"What do you think?" he asked, almost cheerfully, but she could hear the ring of arrogance, there, "Not bad, eh?"
"I'm – I'm just going to go, uh, visit the wardrobe," she replied, pointing vaguely in what might have possibly been more-or-less the general direction of the aforementioned room. She couldn't help raking her gaze over him one last time before darting from the room. It wasn't until several minutes later, after depositing the books back in the library, that she realized she hadn't had her tea.
The Doctor was in the console room, concentrating on the monitor, when Rose finally emerged. Determined not to be outdone by the taciturn Time Lord, she'd gone full tilt at the labyrinthine wardrobe room. As it turned out, her bloody-minded determination had been largely unnecessary. Almost immediately upon entering the room, she'd found the ideal item hanging on the end of the first rack of clothes on the left just inside the entrance. A quick change had confirmed it was a perfect fit, and she'd returned to her room to see to her hair and apply just a touch of makeup. Finally, she'd rummaged through her belongings for a simple, tasteful pair of black pearl stud earrings and replaced her ragtag collection of bracelets with the bangles she'd worn to Pete's party. She'd been more than a little hesitant to wear them, but her usual bracelets wouldn't do and she refused to take off her old Doctor's watch.
As Rose stepped into the console room, she was more than a little gratified at earning a long, speechless look from the man who'd rendered her mute and dumb for five solid minutes that morning. The dress she'd found; or rather, she suspected, that the TARDIS found for her; was a silvery blue, knee-length cashmere sheath with a boat neck and three-quarter sleeves. Paired with midnight blue silk heels and the understated earrings, she knew how much the well-mannered young lady she looked. Still, seeing The Doctor once again in that dashing suit gave her more than a few doubts that the full weight of her objective had truly been accomplished.
"You look beautiful," he said without a hint of guile on his face. 'Good enough,' she thought.
"Considering?" she supplied for him, smiling and tilting her head up, knowing exactly the effect it had with her hair gathered up and the neckline of the dress displaying the subtle curves of her collar bones.
"Considering what?" he asked, taking the bate and letting his eyes drift over the graceful lines of her neck.
"Considering I'm human," she stuck her tongue between her teeth. Her playful poking had the opposite of the desired effect, though, as her words seemed to shake him of his absentmindedness and he gave her a perfunctory nod before returning his attention to the monitor. God, and why did that bother her?
"We have landed in the year 76043 on a luxury starliner by the name of H.M.S. Aberdeen."
"Her Majesty's Ship?" Rose asked, ignoring the unpleasant twinge of – whatever – that his sudden return to the business at hand had elicited, "They're still doin' that seventy-four thousand years in the future?"
"You humans like things familiar," he said by way of his usual condescending explanations.
"And we Brits do enjoy our traditions," Rose concluded, "So, why are we here? Murder? Kidnapping? Impending iceberg?"
"The Aberdeen is currently cruising in and around a formation known as the Eagle Nebula," The Doctor went on, hoping he could glide easily past the mention of catastrophe, "The ship is hired out only to the great and the good, first class accommodations all the way."
"Right," Rose said, suddenly catching on, "The stewards aren't going to let some navvy go wanderin' around their boat, psychic paper or no."
"Oi!" The Doctor protested.
"Oh, don't be so sensitive. I like your jeans and jumpers and that worn out old coat," Rose insisted, slapping him playfully on the arm, "Though I have to say, this is a good look for you."
"Don't get used to it," he warned, though he couldn't help a satisfied grin tugging at his lips.
"Right, then, so what's the emergency?" Rose asked, and The Doctor cringed inwardly.
"There is no emergency," he dismissed the notion as casually as he could, "We're here for the fun of it." For a moment she just stared at him, blinking.
"I'm sorry," she finally said.
"Fun, Rose, fun," he repeated, knowing his joviality sounded more than a little forced. He had a lot riding on this, "You know, that thing that's the opposite of what we've been doin' the last, oh, three weeks or so." She considered him closely, disbelief and suspicion growing in her eyes.
"What's this about?" she asked, "We had a purpose, a plan, and all the sudden it's a bank holiday?"
"You have a plan," he said, his face falling serious, "And I still think it's a terrible plan. Rose, we need a bit of a breather."
"You mean me," she accused, eyes narrowing, "I need a breather." The Doctor's mouth fell open, meaning to deny it outright.
"Sort of, yeah," he said, instead. He wondered sometimes if he wanted to get smacked.
"I can't believe this," she shook her head, "I thought you'd finally come around. I thought this was something important."
"This is important," he insisted, "What good is savin' the universe if you never stop to appreciate what it is you're savin'?"
"There's plenty of time," she said, spreading her arms out in exasperation, "We travel around in a time machine. The cruises can wait until after we find the Daleks."
"Forget the bloody Daleks!" he shouted, weeks of pent up worry coalescing into that one outburst. At the look of shock in her eyes, he immediately schooled himself, "Listen, Rose, I know what it's like. I do. And trust me, you don't want to let this become your life. After everything that's happened, no one wants to find out if any others survived more than me. But we looked, Rose, in all the places you knew they might be, and we can't keep goin' like this. We can't search the entire universe for them. It isn't possible."
"But..."
"No, Rose," The Doctor took her shoulders in his hands, "Please, trust me. Just – just come out on the observation deck with me. Five minutes, and if you don't want to stay – if you don't want to stay I'll take us straight to Skaro. We'll scour the whole, damned planet. Together. Just give me this, Rose." She didn't answer right away, instead, biting her lower lip and searching his face. She was more than a little surprised to see the concern etched along his brow. It scared her a little to think she hadn't noticed anything at all wrong with her behavior.
"OK," she nodded, forcing a smile, "Five minutes."