This is the Voyage of the Damned story for the Being to Timelessness 'verse. Of course, it begins with an accident on the TARDIS and a very unique meeting...
Chapter 1: Misadventures in Time
"Ah!" The Doctor's head popped out from underneath the console, his hair an absolute mess and a smudge of grease on his nose. "Done, finally!"
Rose put a bookmark in the romance novel she'd picked up when the TARDIS repairs had exceeded her skill level and jumped to her feet. "Really?" she asked, running her fingers over the console. "We're ready to fly again?"
After throwing away the Master's ring, they'd done a diagnostic report on the TARDIS, and the results had been sobering, to say the least. With the exception of life support and heating and cooling, every system on the ship had needed an overhaul. It was a miracle they'd managed the few trips they'd taken without incident. So, they'd been in orbit around the supernova for two weeks, trying to get all the work done. Floating in the Vortex would have been better, but she was in such bad shape, they didn't dare attempt even that small jump.
"Yep!" The Doctor bounced lightly on his toes, a broad grin on his face. "Ready to travel again, Rose Tyler?"
Rose reached up and smoothed the Doctor's hair down, then used the rag on the console to wipe the grease off his face. "Ready," she confirmed.
"I'm just going to take us into the Vortex first," the Doctor said as he adjusted the controls. "We'll see how she responds to that, and then recalibrate if necessary."
Excitement hummed through Rose's veins as she watched the Doctor work. Sitting still had its benefits, but after a full year in one place, two weeks of repairs had seemed endless. She was ready to see alien planets again.
The Doctor rested his hand on the dematerialisation lever, an irrepressible smile on his face. "Together?" he suggested.
Rose laughed and danced over to put her hand on top of his. "Together," she agreed, and they threw the lever.
A band tightened around Rose's chest as soon as they did, telling her more clearly than the alarm blaring through the room that something was wrong. The TARDIS shuddered violently as she met resistance in her attempt to take them into the Vortex, and Rose fell to the floor, narrowly missing the railing.
When the movement stopped, she pushed herself upright and leaned against a strut. What was that all about, dear? she asked, patting the grating.
The Doctor was in front of her a second later, running his hands over her arms. "Rose! Are you hurt, love?"
Rose blinked at him, then realised he could feel the TARDIS' discomfort echoing through her, and thought she'd been injured. She grabbed his hand and pressed a kiss to it. "I'm fine, Doctor," she told him, sending calm over the bond as she did. "Just sort of a dull ache in my chest—there's something wrong with the TARDIS. Why don't you take care of her?"
The muscle in his jaw twitched, but after a moment, he nodded and jumped back up. "What was all that about, eh?" he asked as he circled the console. He knocked on the time rotor. "What's your problem?"
There was a strange echo in the emotions Rose was picking up from him, and she understood why a moment later when a man dressed in cricket whites came into view, also talking to the TARDIS.
"Right, just settle down now," the other Doctor said.
Rose bit her lip to keep from laughing as the two Doctors bumped into each other and barely noticed.
"So sorry," the other Doctor said absently.
Her Doctor finally looked up at that. "What?" he asked, his stunned recognition telling Rose that this was a past version of himself.
"What?" the other Doctor repeated, sounding much more clueless, and not a little offended.
The pinstriped Doctor stepped nose-to-nose with his past self. "What!"
"Who are you?" the other Doctor demanded.
Giddy excitement coursed over the bond (along with absolute bafflement from the other Doctor), and Rose waited for his babbling to start.
"Oh, brilliant," her pinstriped Doctor breathed, shaking his head and eyeing the hat his past self wore. "I mean, totally wrong. Big emergency, universe goes bang in five minutes, but, brilliant."
The cricket-y Doctor was completely irritated now. Rose watched as he sighed deeply and tried to take a somewhat intimidating stance—though it was hard to intimidate yourself.
"I'm the Doctor," he claimed irritably. "Who are you?"
Rose's Doctor just beamed at him. "Yes, you are. You are the Doctor."
The blond Doctor pursed his lips together and shook his head. "Yes, I am. I'm the Doctor."
Rose supposed she could have pointed out the younger Doctor's growing annoyance to her Doctor, but apart from the fact that she knew they were perfectly safe, it was too much fun to watch.
"Oh, good for you, Doctor." The pinstriped Doctor's head bobbed up and down a few times. "Good for brilliant old you."
"Is there something wrong with you?" the other Doctor asked, his nostrils flaring.
Rose couldn't hold her laughter in any longer, and both Doctors turned to look at her. Her Doctor pulled her to her feet while the younger Doctor gaped at the two of them.
"Oh, look Rose," the Doctor said, lacing his fingers through hers. "The frowny face. I remember that one!"
"Hello, Doctor," Rose said, holding her hand out.
The younger Doctor took it automatically, his blue eyes widening as he looked her up and down. "You're… Rose! But that means…" He turned to the pinstriped Doctor. "I take it you're me."
The Doctor nodded. "Yep, I'm you a few centuries after where you are now. But never mind that. Look at you! The coat, the cricket-y cricket stuff…" His voice trailed off for a moment and the enthusiasm in his smile disappeared. "The stick of celery," he concluded sheepishly.
Rose stifled a laugh, and her Doctor elbowed her in the side. Oi. No laughing at my fashion choices. Besides, you liked the scarf just fine, and what's a stalk of celery compared to that striped menace?
To the other Doctor, he said, "Yeah. Brave choice, celery, but fair play to you. Not a lot of men can carry off a decorative vegetable."
The younger Doctor took his hat off and looked at Rose, an aggrieved expression on his face. "Rose, do I always go on like this, ranting about every single thing that happens to be in front of me?"
Rose pressed her lips together, but couldn't hide her smile. "I'm afraid so, Doctor." She tilted her head and looked at both versions of her bond mate. "Wait a minute, how do you know who I am?"
His eyes twinkled. "If there's one person in the universe I will always recognise on sight, Rose Tyler, it's you." The pinstriped Doctor grunted in annoyance, and the younger Doctor took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. "I might not always recognise myself, or other friends, but a bond couldn't be mistaken for anything else."
"But have we met before?"
"That would be telling, my dear."
But there was a warmth and familiarity in his smile and the way he held her hand that said the answer was yes, and Rose suddenly found herself looking forward to meeting the Doctor in his past incarnations.
She stepped towards him and straightened the lapels of his jacket, then adjusted the celery so it lay flat. "You know, I happen to think the celery is the perfect final touch for this outfit." The Doctor behind her huffed in annoyance, but the younger Doctor's eyes lit up, and he kissed her hand once more.
Then he stepped back and looked up at the ceiling before frowning at the current Doctor. "What have you done to my TARDIS? You've changed the desktop theme, haven't you? What's this one, coral?"
"I love it," Rose interjected, before they could disintegrate into an argument.
The younger Doctor smiled at her and pull a pair of glasses out of his pocket. "Well, if you like it…"
"Oh, and out they come, the brainy specs." The current Doctor snorted derisively. "You don't even need them. You just think they make you look a bit clever."
Rose raised her eyebrows at her Doctor. You've got no room to talk there, she pointed out, and the tips of his ears turned red as an alarm started up again.
"That's an alert, level five, indicating a temporal collision," the younger Doctor said. He took his glasses off as he turned the alarm off, all humour gone from his face. "Our TARDISes have merged… two time zones at the heart of the TARDIS."
The heart of the TARDIS. Rose and her Doctor exchanged a glance; that explained her discomfort.
The younger Doctor continued, apparently not aware of their silent conversation. "That's a paradox that could blow a hole in the space-time continuum the size of…" The pinstriped Doctor turned the monitor to so he could read the display, and the younger Doctor made a face. "Well, actually, the exact size of Belgium. That's a bit undramatic, isn't it? Belgium?"
The pinstriped Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out and offered it to his former self. "Need this?"
"No, I'm fine." The younger Doctor bent over and started typing a command into the TARDIS terminal.
Rose's Doctor rolled his eyes as he put the sonic back in his pocket. "Oh no, of course, you liked to go hands free, didn't you? Like, 'Hey, I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe using a kettle and some string. And look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable.'"
The TARDIS hummed weakly, and Rose rocked slightly on her feet as the ship's pain washed over her. The two Doctors started bickering over who knew better how to fix the TARDIS, but Rose ignored them and turned to the console.
Tell me what to do, dear, she said, moving from one control panel to the next as the TARDIS directed her steps. Halfway through, Rose realised what they were doing and balked. That'll blow you up. But the ship insisted, tolling the cloister bell to remind Rose that they didn't have much time left.
That finally got the attention of the two Doctors. They stopped arguing mid-sentence to stare up at the ceiling.
"The cloister bell!" the younger one said. He jumped into action, throwing levers to stop the black hole from consuming the TARDIS.
The older one looked at Rose, a proud grin on his face. "Oh, don't worry about it, Doctor," he said, following his previous self around the ship. "Rose has things well in hand."
"In a minute we're going to create a black hole strong enough to swallow the entire universe!"
Rose raised an eyebrow at her Doctor, and he tugged on his earlobe. "Yeah, that's our fault, actually. We were rebuilding the TARDIS, forgot to put the shields back up. Your TARDIS and our TARDIS, well the same TARDIS at different points in its own time stream collided and whoo, there you go—end of the universe, butterfingers. But don't worry, I know exactly how this all works out. Watch."
He nodded at Rose, and she wiggled her fingers before diving for the next control.
"Venting the thermobuffer, flooring the helmic regulator, and, for maximum effect, let's fry those Zeiton crystals."
"She'll blow up the TARDIS," the younger Doctor gasped.
He lunged for her, but the older Doctor grabbed him by the elbow. "No, she won't. Just watch."
White light flooded the console room, and when it faded, Rose knew immediately that things were back to rights. The band around her chest had loosened, and she could draw a breath without pain.
The younger Doctor had been braced for the explosion, and he straightened slowly, looking around the TARDIS like he was surprised to still be there. "Supernova and black hole at the exact same instant."
The pinstriped Doctor nodded, a wide grin on his face. "The explosion cancels out the implosion."
Rose smiled at both of them. "Pressure remains constant."
"You're brilliant," her Doctor said, picking her up and swinging her around before setting her back down again.
"Far too brilliant," the younger Doctor agreed. "I've never met anyone else who could fly the TARDIS like that."
They both looked at Rose with stars in their eyes. She blushed and pushed a strand of hair back over her ear.
"That's Rose," her Doctor said matter-of-factly.
"You didn't have time to work all that out," the younger Doctor said. "Even I couldn't do it."
Rose shook her head. "I didn't need to work it out. The TARDIS, she told me what to do."
Rose's Doctor patted the time rotor. "Rose and the TARDIS have a very special relationship," he said. "It's hard to explain, but the benefits are obvious."
The younger Doctor looked skeptical, but eventually, he shrugged. "But what about you?" he challenged, looking at his future self. "You knew what was going to happen, too." Understanding dawned a moment later. "You remembered being me watching Rose doing that. You already knew what she was going to do because I saw her do it."
The pinstriped Doctor nodded, but didn't have time to answer before a different alert echoed through the console room. He backed up a few paces and turned a dial to keep their TARDIS stable.
"Right," he said, "TARDISes are separating. Sorry, Doctor; time's up. Back to long ago." He looked up from the controls and peered around the time rotor at the younger Doctor, who was still staring at Rose in awe. "Where are you now? Nyssa and Tegan? Cybermen and Mara and Time Lords in funny hats?"
"Yes, that's my life in a nutshell," the younger Doctor agreed. "I'd ask how you knew all of that, but since you were once me, I think I can guess."
Rose felt a pang when he started to fade. They couldn't travel with the Doctor's past self—she knew that. But she had liked having him here, just for a few minutes.
"Oh, I seem to be off," the younger Doctor said. He looked at Rose. "I wish I didn't have to forget you again, my dear."
"I'll be waiting for you, Doctor."
"Until we meet again."
The Doctor looked at Rose, feeling her melancholy at letting go of this younger version of him. Then he spotted the previous Doctor's hat on the console, and even though he knew his past self could find a new one in the wardrobe room, he flicked a switch that brought the other man back.
"I think Rose wanted a proper goodbye," he said, putting a hand on her back and nudging her towards his past self.
Rose looked up at her Doctor, then stepped forward to wrap her arms around the previous Doctor. "Please, take care of yourself," she whispered in his ear. "Things are gonna happen, and you won't want to, but that's when you meet me. And Doctor… no matter what we've been through, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
The younger Doctor looked down at her, and the older Doctor smirked at the confusion on the other man's face. Even where he was, before the Time War, he couldn't comprehend Rose's devotion to him. Oh, just give it a few centuries, Doctor. It'll make even less sense to you by the time you actually meet her.
Rose stepped back, and the Doctor handed his past self his hat. The other Doctor took it and placed it on his head.
"To days to come," he said, looking at Rose as he did.
The Doctor wrapped an arm around her waist. "All my love to long ago."
This time, when his previous self disappeared, the Doctor let him go. As he did, the memory of meeting himself and Rose unlocked, permanently this time.
Rose looked up at him. "How does that work, him knowing me? You didn't know me when we met, did you?"
"Absolutely not," the Doctor said adamantly. "That would have been a massive deception—I never would have done that to you, Rose."
She tilted her head. "Yeah, I guess I didn't think about it like that. But how does it work, then?"
The Doctor sat down on the jump seat and patted the empty spot. When she sat down beside him, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"We talked about this on Barcelona, remember?" he began. "How bonding with a Time Lord bonds you to every one of their regenerations, past and present?"
"Right…" Rose traced a pattern on his thigh, and a moment later, he recognised it as the circular symbols making up the word forever. "But you didn't say that if we met younger versions of you, they'd recognise me."
"Well, first off, I think we need to assume that this was not the first time I had met us, even though it was the first time we've met me."
She nodded. "Yeah, I picked up on that, too. But he said at the end that he forgets, and yet he knew me right away."
The Doctor leaned his head against the seat back and sighed. "Marriage bonds are… trans-temporal," he said. "Any time I meet you once we have a bond, I will feel your side of the bond call to me."
Rose shifted beside him, and he looked down at her frowning face. "Then how come you didn't recognise me in Henrik's?" The lines on her forehead cleared before he could answer. "Oh! You didn't know me when I met you the first time, because I hadn't bonded with you yet."
"Right! Of course, every time I meet you before I met you…" The Doctor let that sentence trail off, snorting at the absolute ridiculousness of it. "Anyway, if I meet you as my bond mate before I meet you properly in my ninth incarnation, I have to hide the memories so I don't ruin my own timeline. One thing I'd never want to ruin is the way I met you, Rose."
Rose looked up at him, a soft smile on her face. "You said just one word."
The Doctor reached for her hand. "I said, 'Run.'"
She stretched up, and the Doctor bent his head to kiss her. He sighed at the warm pressure of her lips against his. His fifth self had been absolutely enamoured with her, of course, as he suspected every Doctor who met her would be. But he was the Doctor who knew her; he was the Doctor who was married to her.
Rose pulled away from his kiss and smirked up at him. "Bit silly, being jealous of your own self," she teased.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "So you're saying that if we went back to, say, early 2005, and I met you before I met you, you wouldn't be jealous of your younger self?"
Rose tugged on his tie. "Nope. Because that nineteen-year-old girl would be just weeks away from meeting the most amazing man in the universe, who would totally sweep her off her feet." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "As long as he remembers to tell her that his ship also travels in time."
The Doctor leaned down to kiss her again, but TARDIS shook and a ship's horn blared through the console room, interrupting the tender moment. Rose and the Doctor looked up behind them at the prow of a ship, protruding through the walls of the TARDIS.
"What?" the Doctor cried, jumping to his feet.
The dust settled, and he spotted a life preserver. He crawled to it and flipped it over, a rock settling in his stomach when he read the name. Titanic.
"What?" he said again, not pleased with this turn of events.
Rose joined him on the floor and started laughing when she read it. "Well," she said, her voice merry, "the TARDIS does travel in time."