&
"Rose?" The Doctor stuck his head around the corner of her bedroom door, and she looked up blearily. Her mascara was smeared all down her cheeks and her face was red and blotchy.
"I'm okay." She said quietly. He slipped inside and closed the door behind him, coming to sit beside Rose and taking her hand. They were quiet for a moment, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I was incredibly stupid, wasn't I?" She muttered. The Doctor didn't say anything. "I should have thought! All your people, your family, were dead, and yet you hadnt gone back to save them, to stop them dying. There had to have been a reason, but I just didn't think about that." He still didn't say anything. She looked up at him and he watched her calmly. "Arent you going to say anything?"
"What is it you'd like me to say?" He asked. She sighed.
"I don't know." She paused. "He was really brave, wasn't he?"
"He knew what had to be done."
"He said…he said that you'd worked it out. That you knew all along how to stop it. But you didn't tell me."
"You wouldn't have reacted well." The Doctor said flippantly.
"No. But…the problem was caused because a man was alive who should have been dead. So to reverse the situation he had to die. It was so simple."
"Well, it's really a good thing the car kept looping." The Doctor said. Rose turned and looked up at him, wiping away the smudged mascara with her hands and leaving it smeared even more across her cheeks.
"You were right. I cant do anything right." She frowned. "Another stupid ape."
"Rose!" The Doctor caught her face in his hands. "No! I didn't mean that, it's just…"
"You did mean it. Just like you meant it about-"
"That was different. He was a stupid ape. He came so he could discover something that would make him rich when he went back home."
"Space travel didn't bother me. Time…" she echoed his words. He was quiet. "It wasn't some kind of long-term plan, you know. I mean, it was a possibility – I never knew him! But I didn't just come with you to bring my dad back. Travelling time and space, meeting all these different people…it's like nothing I could have ever imagined. And it was so…amazing, so different."
"So dangerous, you mean." He put in. An image of the darlek sprung to her mind and she pushed it away.
"There's always going to be danger, no matter what I did." She shrugged. "Hell, slip on an icy bit on the garden path and you can kill yourself, cant you."
"That's hardly letting a stranger transport you straight into the middle of World War Three, is it?" The Doctor put in acidly.
"You're not a stranger." She corrected. "And it may not be World War Three, but it's also a helluva lot more boring, more tedious. Every day, the same thing. Get up, go to work, go home. I don't want that! Not when there's the whole universe – all of time! To see, to learn about."
"You very nearly didn't learn anything about anything." He chided. She leaned her head against his shoulder again, and his arm crept around her back, holding her to him.
"I learnt about my dad." She offered. "And I know now…about time, how you can't go changing it, saving people's lives. I never understood that before. I wondered…but I get it now."
"Do you?"
"It rewrites all of history, having someone alive, or dead, I suppose, that shouldn't be. Changes everything." She paused and looked up at him. His face was very still. "That was the Time Wars, wasn't it? Going back and stopping things from happening to stop other things from happening."
"That was the Time Wars." He said finally. "In the end…it was never going to end."
"So you went back and-"
"Stopped the creation of the darleks, stopped the creation of my people." He filled in.
"But you-"
"I slipped out the back of the time. Just like that darlek did." His voice was harsh, and Rose fought the instinct to flinch.
"You fell through time." She guessed.
"I'm the only one left. The rest of my people, my race, never existed at all."
"You did what you had to do." She assured him.
"Didn't make it right."
"Hey." She reached up and pressed her hand to his cheek. He leaned into it, his gaze not leaving hers. "You did what you had to do. You told me some about the time wars, how innocent races were destroyed, just because they happened to coexist in the same time. You saved them."
"They never existed in the first place. Any race that ever developed as a result of the Darleks or the Time Lords just winked out of time."
"I think you did the right thing." She offered. He pulled away from her and stood up.
"And you know so much about it, do you?" He demanded cruelly. "Yeah, course you do. Nearly destroyed the entire world, you did, and yet you're trying to tell me its okay!" He stormed to her door and jerked it open, then looked back. "Grow up, Rose." The door slammed behind him and Rose stared at it dumbly. Then she keeled over sideways and lay facing the door blankly, tears running over her nose onto her pillow.
&
She stared at the ceiling for a moment, her stomach growling again. It had been about four hours since the Doctor had stormed out, and she had slept some, cried some, thought some. But now she was starving, and her crying had ended, so she saw no point in hiding in her room.
Well, there was the small issue of the Doctor, who was currently hugely pissed off with her, unless of course he'd had a moodswing and was now happy as larry. You never really knew with the Doctor.
She emerged from her bedroom and made her way to the kitchen without meeting the Doctor. She had to admit she was relieved – a moody Doctor was, on occasion, a cruel one. He had a way of picking up something completely random that she might have said, something completely irrelevant at the time, and somehow twisting it so she sounded a complete selfish self-centred little bitch.
It wasn't any good for her sense of self. It was hardly any wonder he had mood swings like he did, goodness knew she was considering them. One minute he's all pleased with her and praising her (and making her feel ridiculously pleased like she had scored brilliantly on a test) then the next he was calling her a stupid ape, basically telling her that everything they had done together was completely worthless because she had supposedly been plotting the entire time to save her father and destroy the world.
Honestly, you could live for 900 years, travel with someone for over a month and a half (and get to be really good friends) and yet know nothing at all about your fellow traveller. Honestly, there must have been something about her that made him invite her to travel with him. Something about her had made him offer.
It just annoyed her. She slapped a piece of bread on top of the sandwich she had just finished making and irritably jerked open the cupboard to look for a plate. She banged it down on the counter and transferred the sandwich onto it before slamming the cupboard shut and staring balefully at the sandwich. She jumped up onto the opposite counter and engaged on a staring match with it.
She was ashamed to say it won.
She tipped her head back against the wall and sighed. It simply wasn't fair. So many times she had thought she would die, or the Doctor would die, and that they'd both die, or that the world would die, or that something would die, and it would all be her fault. So many times she had just gritted her teeth and forged ahead, trusting that the Doctor would get them out of the situation, trusting him blindly, when all she wanted to do was scream and cry and go home to Bobbo, the ragged teddy bear she had left behind in London. She had lost him, lost him again today, and all she would feel was this huge wrenching emptiness inside, like she'd been ripped apart and then shoved back together higgledy-piggledy, without any care for how she might feel about it. And while it would be easier if none of this had ever happened, she wouldn't give it up for the world. The exploration, the new planets, new sights…the Doctor. She didn't think she could ever give him up.
"Sandwich got the better of you then?" He asked. "Tired you out? Hardly going to be any use giving me a hand on Zenoba if making a sandwich exhausts you." Her head snapped up and her eyes flew open, taking in the sight of the Doctor leaning nonchalantly on the doorjamb, arms folded. She sighed and slid off the counter, picking up the sandwich, then putting it down again without tasting it. She wasn't hungry anymore.
"Zenoba?"
"They're in the middle of a civil war. But there's this toddler we have to make sure doesn't die. So basically you'll look after him while I make sure neither of you gets killed."
Making sure a toddler doesn't die. How was that different from making sure her father didn't die? Surely that was equally as important.
"The toddler hasn't died yet. We'll be in real time." He answered her thoughts like he had known what they were.
And how was it he could just get over something like what they had just gone through? It was the biggest rift in their relationship as of yet, and somehow he had moved on, was acting like it never happened. And if you were in the past, wasn't that real time, too?
"We'll be there in about ten minutes. Eat that, you'll need it." He said eventually after a long silence, nodding at the sandwich. He turned and left the kitchen, and Rose stared blankly at the food, her gut twisted so tightly she wasn't entirely sure she could swallow, let alone eat. She tried to take a bite and it felt like she was chewing rubber. She swallowed with difficulty and turned to the sink and got a drink, washing the food down with copious amounts of water.
She dumped the sandwich in the bin just as the TARDIS began shuddering, and she grabbed the counter for support. She put the plate in the sink and stumbled to the door, pausing long enough to puke up the bite of sandwich and anything else that had been in her stomach in the bin before she unsteadily made her way down to the main control room. The Doctor looked as exuberant as ever, one hand tightly gripping the rail around the central console while his other hand danced across the controls, pulling levers and pushing buttons.
"Come on!" He called without looking over his shoulder. "Make yourself useful!"
"Doing what, precisely?" She answered, letting the tossing of the TARDIS pull her down into the main circle next to the controls.
The Doctor frowned but didn't answer; merely starting to work faster, pushing past Rose to access the levers, switches and buttons nearest to her. She stood watching him, feeling about as much use as a spare war memorial. The TARDIS gave another almighty shudder, throwing her into him. He caught her easily, his hands grasping her arms and setting her upright.
"Hold on." He advised, before continuing his frantic work. The TARDIS bumped slightly and then the shuddering calmed. He flashed her a brilliant smile. "We're here."
"Bumpy landing." Rose observed unnecessarily.
"Well, if you'd helped-"
"If you told me what to do, I would've!" She shot back, annoyed again. He grinned at her, and she got the feeling he had been deliberately winding her up. She rolled her eyes and looked away. "So are we on Zenoba?"
"Should be. Shall we?" He offered his arm grandly and she took it, head reeling from his completely unpredictable behaviour. They stepped outside of the TARDIS and found themselves in a back alley and Rose's mouth dropped open.
All the buildings around them were tall, cone shaped and brightly coloured, looking like huge overgrown multi-coloured crocuses. Rose couldn't help but smile at the bright colours.
"It's gorgeous." She exclaimed under her breath. He grinned.
"They're just giant tents. The frames are made out of living trees, covered in straw mats that are coated in clay and the bright paint."
"It's amazing." She couldn't seem to close her mouth. He closed it for her, his finger cool under her chin.
"Right. Well, we need to find the party, get the toddler then get somewhere safe." He summarised the whole agenda quickly. She nodded.
"So where's the party?"
"Let's go look, shall we?"
They emerged from the alley into a bustling market place, crowded with people who were dressed as vibrantly as the tent-buildings around them. Rose felt rather drab in her jeans and black zip-up sweater.
"Rose! Rose, there you are! Where have you been hiding?" The Doctor and Rose spun as a dark-haired woman in a blue dress ran up to them, waving excitedly. The Doctor took her hand in his and squeezed. Rose squeezed back.
"Hey." Rose said quietly.
"By the lady, your hair! I can't believe you decided to go gold after all! You seemed so set on red…I'm glad you took my advice." Rose smiled hesitantly. "And who's this? Is this the 'friend' you hinted about? He doesn't seem to be your type, but I could see how he could have his own charms." She very obviously looked the Doctor up and down and Rose shifted closer to him, and he grinned. "Anyway." The woman gathered her thoughts. "Yes, you have to come with me now, and say goodbye to your friend," she smiled in his direction. "The Ball's in three hours and I can tell you're not even close to being ready yet, so you can see your friend there."
"Where's the ball again?" Rose asked carefully.
"Rose, you're ridiculous! Your memory is like a sieve, I swear. The royal palace, dummy! And in case you've forgotten where that would be, it's the huge red tent!"
"I knew that." Rose rolled her eyes deprecatingly.
"Ah, but your friend seems a little lost so I thought I might just remind anyone who happens to be listening. He is coming, right?"
"Well-" Rose hedged. She was really getting into this acting thing.
"Of course he is. Since he's with you I can tell he knows what your job is so there's no problem with him coming. Unless…" the woman suddenly leaned closer. "You didn't choose a jealous type, did you?" Her voice was tinged with worry and warning.
Rose smiled. "Of course not." Liar! Her brain screamed at her. She knew full well the Doctor did get jealous. She was just curious what he'd get jealous about.
"Thank Lady. You did that a couple of times ago, you remember? And he spent the entire night glaring at your clients. So embarassing." She shuddered. "Anyway, say goodbye properly, hug and kiss and all that." She grinned, and Rose rolled her eyes.
"You are so interfering." But she turned to the Doctor anyway.
"Be careful." He whispered, putting his arms around her waist and drawing her into a hug.
"I will be. You too." Before she could think about it she kissed him quickly on the mouth before pulling away, and turning to the woman, who stood there, her hands on her heart.
"You will always be adorable, Rose, no matter how many men you go through." She sighed, then looked up at the Doctor. "So you're going to the Ball?"
"Wouldn't miss it." He said jovially. He glanced at Rose and she smiled back, albeit a little weakly, the kiss still on her mind. What the bleeding hell had she been thinking? Mostly just to do as the woman told her, trying to pull off being this other Rose.
"Well, what colour are you wearing? I have to see if I can match her dress." The woman took control effortlessly.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name." The Doctor said politely. The woman laughed.
"Rose, you didn't introduce us! My name is Lady Iris. I'm one of King Amber's courtesans, but I expect you knew that." The Doctor nodded, his gaze flicking to Rose momentarily before returning to Iris.
"I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor…" she pressed.
"Just the Doctor." He returned. She threw a smile in Rose's direction.
"Mysterious too! My my, you do pick them! Well, what colour?"
"I hadnt exactly planned-"
"You mean you don't know? Well, honestly. Men. There you see the yellow tent, the really pointy one?" He looked in the direction she pointed in and nodded. "That's the tailors. Go there and get a suit…an emerald green one. It'll match Rose's dress. Off you go…Rose and I have important matters to deal with. I'm sure you'll understand." She gave him a small push in that direction and took Rose's arm, leading her off without any further ado. Rose looked over her shoulder back at him, and saw him watching her, a small smile on his face before Iris grabbed her attention and she focused her attention back on the chattering woman beside her.
&
They reached a small pink tent that was set next to a rather larger purple one, and Iris grandly gestured Rose inside. "We're here!" She announced. Rose smiled weakly at her. Iris hadnt stopped talking all the way here, for which Rose was fervently grateful. Not only did the Iris' incessant gossip give Rose a rather better idea of what was going on, it didn't appear that Iris required much input from Rose so was content with her quiet audience. Inside, Iris turned to Rose, her hands on her hips.
"Now." She said cooly. Rose swallowed. "I want to know what the bleeding hell you've been drinking, Rose! You haven't been drinking boreberry spirits again, have you?" Rose decided looking a little guilty wouldn't go amiss, and Iris sighed, taking Rose's arm and guiding her to the bed. They sat down, and Iris took Rose's hand, turning it palm-upwards and tracing the lines on it with her fingertips. It tickled.
"Rose, I know you're unhappy here." She began. "I know you're only here so you can earn enough money to be off this planet and away from being a courtesan. But drugging yourself senseless with boreberry will not help!" Iris paused and looked away. "I thought it was boreberry when you asked where the ball was. I've heard it said it does things to your memory, though you've been at the bottle for years now and it never seemed to affect you." She sighed. "Do you want me to go through everything you should know so you don't get yourself hanged or worse?"
Personally Rose couldn't think of anything worse than hanging, but she figured she'd leave that judgement to Iris. "Please. I don't know quite what I've forgotten, so a general overview would be nice." Iris tutted but nodded anyway.
"From the beginning then. You were born on a backstream planet…I cant remember the name. Probably Medusa VII or something. You were captured by slave traders at age seven, sold to a brothel at eleven. By thirteen you had been bought by King Amber and you've been here ever since. You're one of his favourites, and are working not just for favours but for currency so you can save enough to free yourself of being…"
"A prostitute." Rose put in. Iris wrinkled her nose.
"You were always so blunt. Yes, a prostitute. You're working tonight, at the ball, so for lady's sake keep away from the alcohol. Your clients tonight are Lord Patrick, Master Fitzsimmons, and the Head of the Royal guard. Do you remember the other side of our job?" Rose looked at Iris blankly. Iris slapped her.
"You stupid cow!" She exclaimed, her eyes blazing with fury. "How much did you drink? You're going to lose everything!" Rose tasted blood in her mouth, and realised she had been her lip when Iris slapped her. "We're spies for the Queen. King Amber is the front for everything, and our title is King's Courtesan. But we work for Queen Sapphire in that everything we discover from our lovers we tell directly to her, and she tells us what to say to the King."
"Iris, I'm sorry." Rose said sincerely. Iris sneered.
"No. If you were, you wouldn't do it again. But you do, time and time again. I only wonder that I've stuck with you, not reported you to the Queen or the King."
"Iris, I do appreciate it." Rose said cautiously. She knew she was treading on unsteady ground here. This is where she could mess it all up, if she wasn't careful.
"Oh, I know that." Iris sighed. "And it's only because I love you that I don't run to the Royals. I hope you havent forgotten how to do your job. I can't teach you that, and you're one of the most famous courtesans in the city."
"I haven't forgotten." Rose said. "But…pregnancy?"
"Silly. You had those organs removed years ago. See, there's the-" Iris pulled up Rose's shirt and saw the clear skin. "Where's the scar gone?" She asked. Rose bit her lip and shrugged.
"I don't know."
"They got you, didn't they? The bastards, no wonder you can't remember anything! Right." She took a deep breath and let it out. "We can't let anyone know you've been…used. So, for tonight…" Iris bent and pulled a box out from under the bed. It was small, wooden and rectangular and carved with intricate ivy leaves. She opened it and revealed a swatch of dark-coloured cotton and several paper packets of herbs. She looked upward at the angle of the sun through the pink tent and nodded. "We've just got time for this to work." She quickly and efficiently took several pinches of different herbs and rolled them in the fabric, making a small ball. She tied it tightly together, then handed it to Rose, who stared at it blankly. "My girl." Iris sighed. "What you do is put it in you, all the way at the top. It'll block the womb and kill any sperm that get that far." She grinned suddenly. "Barely any of the men are big enough to reach that far anyway." Rose smiled weakly. "Well, go on, put it in!" Rose glanced around. There was a screen in the far corner and she stood and went behind it. It was uncomfortable business, but she distracted herself by listening to Iris' chatter.
"You're wearing emerald tonight, the Queen told me. I got the stuff out for you – I suspected you'd be at the bottle so wouldn't have the mind to do it yourself. But they got you…how horribly unlucky for you." She sighed and there was the rustle of fabric. "Do you remember who the men are? Tell me your clients."
"Um…Captain of the Royal Guard, Master Fitzsimmons and…Lord…I can't remember his last name."
"Lord Patrick. And it's the Head of the Guard, not the Captain. Please don't make that mistake." Rose emerged from behind the screen and gaped at the clothes laid out on the bed. Iris continued unawares. "I'm wearing pale blue." She pulled out a nearly matching dress in a different colour, complete with all the underwear. "And we've only got two hours left, so get a move on. We'll do you first, so get undressed and I can help you into this lot."
Shyly Rose undressed, leaving her underwear on. Iris rolled her eyes. "Stop being coy, Rose. I've seen it all before. Off, come on. We don't have long enough to mess around. Here, put these on." She chucked a pair of sage green silk french knickers at Rose, and turned away. Rose quickly changed her underwear and unclipped her bra, turning her back to Iris.
"Okay." Rose said uncertainly. Iris turned back, and Rose saw her scoop up the matching corset, made of green silk and covered with black lace. She handed it to Rose, who wrapped it around her and Iris started lacing it up, pulling it tighter than Rose would have liked.
"Stockings." Iris ordered. Rose obligingly put them on, wondering at the fact that Zenoba had rather Earthly underwear. She clipped them to the suspenders and then Iris helped her into the full green silk-satin skirt that hung heavily from Rose's waist. "We'll leave the top for now. Do your hair and makeup and then put it on." She pulled Rose to a seat in front of a polished piece of black stone which clearly served as a mirror, and started fussing with her hair and putting makeup on Rose's face. Forty-five minutes later, She wrapped the top of the dress around Rose's torso and laced that up as well, making it as tight as the corset and increasing the pressure on Rose's ribs. When Rose looked in the mirror though, she scarcely recognised herself.
All her hair was smoothly up in a bun at the back of her head, except for one fat curl that hung over her shoulder. Around her neck was a tiered necklace hung with big square emeralds. Emerald drops hung from her ears, and a matching bracelet around her gloved wrist. The green gloves reached above her elbow and accentuated the paleness of her skin. She had pale green opalescent eyeshadow and green eyeliner, and her eyelashes were thick with the Zenobian equivalent of mascara. She had pink lipstick and a smear of blusher across her cheekbones. Then there was the mask, a sparkling silver half-face mask that pinned into her hair at her temples. She looked beautiful.
"I am good." Iris said appreciatively. Rose looked over and saw that in the time that she had been looking at herself in the mirror-stone, Iris had undressed and redressed in ice-blue silk panties and wrapped the matching satin corset edged in black lace around her torso and was waiting expectantly for Rose to lace her up. Rose moved to the courtesan and took the laces in her hands, pulling them tight, and squeezing the sides of the corset together, perhaps a little more viciously that necessary – her ribs still hurt, and breathing was a problem. She was starting to regret the tightness though, as she came to tie up the corset, and she loosened it slightly.
"Don't!" Iris insisted. "This is the best corset you've laced for weeks! Just tie it." Rose did, and helped Iris into the skirt. "I'll do my face and hair, I know you're no good at them. Just sit there and don't spoil anything."
An hour later, Iris was finished and ready to go. She affixed the dark blue mask to her face, checked Rose's mask, handed Rose her shoes and then took her arm and headed out.
They didn't actually leave the tents, Rose noticed. Just passed through several interlinked tents. Rose saw other women, dressed as they were in equally bright colours, all heading in the direction of the huge red tent that dominated this part of the city.
"I'll show you the Head, Lord Patrick and Fitzsimmons when we get in there." Iris murmured in Rose's ear. "After that, it's up to you to get them in bed and talking." Rose nodded, her stomach knotted at the thought of seducing three complete strangers. And that's provided the civil war that no one had mentioned didn't somehow interrupt the party. They filed into the hall and Iris took Rose's arm, and pointed with a blue-gloved finger. "There's the Head of Guard." She pointed at a gruff looking man with a black beard and a large scar down the side of his face. Rose wrinkled her nose slightly and Iris elbowed her in her already-sore ribs. "Don't do that! You just have to get over what he looks like. We're not in this for the sex, that's what whores are for. We're here for the information." Iris looked around, then nodded. "Lord Patrick is heading over here, so I'll leave you here."
"What about Fitzsimmons?" Rose asked frantically. Iris glanced around.
"I don't know. But he's wearing bright yellow, and has red hair. Should be a disasterous mix, I'm sure you'll spot him. Now, I don't care how disorientated you are, we need you to do this. Remember the war that's brewing, Rose. We need to know who's plotting and where so we can stop it! Now, remember. Dumb, blonde, and sexy." She started to walk off, and Rose caught her arm, one eye on where Lord Patrick was getting closer. She only had a second or two left.
"Wait. If you see the Doctor, you have to explain what's going on."
"You mean he doesn't know?" Iris asked, aghast.
"I never got a chance to tell him. Explain I'm a courtesan, and a spy for the Queen. You can trust him, I promise. He's an old friend. But don't let him interfere, or he'll get us all killed, alright?"
"I will. Just do your job!" Iris was gone and Rose turned back to see Lord Patrick before her. He smiled and bowed low.
"Lady Rose." She curtsied as best she could, and he took her hand and kissed her palm.
"Lord Patrick." She murmured breathily. "It's a pleasure to see you again." Lord Patrick ran his fingers over the emerald necklace at her throat, and the touch made her shiver, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.
"And you, as always. Drink?"
"My thanks, but no." Rose felt like she was acting in a play, and was confined to the ad-lib section. "Shall we…"
"A dance, perhaps." The music struck up again and Patrick pulled her onto the dancefloor, guiding her gently around the floor. Out of the corner of her eye Rose saw someone in green approaching across the floor, who was then apprehended by Iris in her icy blue. She said a few terse words and then they both walked away. Rose returned to her attention back to Patrick.
"You seem distracted, my lady." He muttered. "I assure you, all is in hand for the revolution."
"I would feel better if we reviewed the last few details." Rose said carefully. This game was scaring her senseless and she only hoped she wouldn't make a mistake.
"Of course. Come." He took her hand and guided her from the dancefloor and through one of several connecting tunnels to a different part of the palace. He pushed aside a wooden screen and gestured her inside. He followed and shut it behind her. "Everything's prepared, my lady. We await your signal. Soon you will be Queen, and the planet will bow to you alone."
"Excellent." Rose said, her mind whirling as she tried to absorb all the information. "Tell me everything."
"The toddler is under Fitzsimmon's guard. The Courtesans are all being watched as closely as they are watching us. They're all being fed false information." He stood close to her, his hand on her waist, the other on her shoulder, and he tipped his head so their foreheads were touching. She noticed he had odd-eyes. "Everything is going as planned, my love." He kissed her and she kissed back instinctively, before pulling away slightly.
"Everyone is still loyal?" She asked. She felt like she was in a book, and was saying lines she remembered from various fantasy novels. This was hard work; she only hoped the Doctor had his side of the job under control.
"Of course. The Head and Fitzsimmons are ready and willing for our cause, my lady. The toddler is being kept in-"
"Patrick! There you are! I've been looking all over for - who is she?" Rose and Patrick turned to the door, where a woman identical to Rose but for her long red hair stood, dressed in dark shimmering purple. The two Roses stared at each other in horror.
"My God, Rose." Rose choked out.
"Who the hell are you? Imposter. Queen's spy." The red-haired Rose hissed. Rose suddenly dashed for the door, tearing away from the other Rose and running. Her shoulder stung where the other Rose had grabbed her then lost her grip, but Rose ignored it. Then she nearly crashed headlong into Iris outside the main ballroom.
"What the hell are you doing?" Iris hissed.
"There's an imposter Rose." Rose whispered back, grabbing Iris' hand and dragging her away from the doorway, into the shadows near the corner. "She's got red hair and is wearing purple. She's plotting to be Queen herself, and Patrick, Fitzsimmons and the Head are all loyal to her."
"How do you know?" Iris whispered.
"I was with Patrick." Rose returned, "And he thought I was her. So he told me. Fitzsimmons has the baby. Iris, I have to get that baby, or we'll all be at war!"
"How do I know you're not the imposter? No scar, no memory. Gold hair. The Rose I know would do just as she pleased, regardless of what I have to say." Iris said calculatingly, her eyes narrowed.
"Iris, if you're loyal to the King and Queen you have to help me! We have to get that toddler somewhere safe and-" she swayed, her vision darkening for a second.
"Rose!"
"Just dizzy, that's all." Rose waved her away, and Iris turned her around and saw the scratch.
"The Dom Gabor. Dammit Rose, you were right. And we havent got long."
"What?"
"You've been poisoned. You're dying. It's a wonder you're not dead already." Iris paused.
"We need the Doctor, Iris. He's helping me with this." Rose pleaded. Her back burned.
"Stay here, Rose. I'll get him. Don't move. And don't make a sound." Rose nodded, and Iris hurried back into the ball.
Rose's back was hurting more than ever, and her mind felt fuzzy – she couldn't control her thoughts without huge amounts of effort. She felt thirsty, and like she was choking. She sank to the floor, her dress rustling unbelievably loudly. She stared at the green fabric and saw beautiful patterns in the fabric, and she smiled, tracing the patterns with her finger, which had turned green. It was all very peculiar.
"Rose!" She looked up and saw someone familiar in front of her. She just couldn't place him. She frowned.
"I know you." She said confusedly. He put one cool hand on her forehead and swore.
"Iris, we need somewhere we can hide her. And the baby, where's the baby?"
"Fitzsimmons." Rose said, swaying slightly. "He's got the baby."
"Iris, where would Fitzsimmons keep a baby?"
"There were a lot of guards by the greenhouse earlier." Iris offered. The Doctor nodded.
"Take Rose somewhere safe. No one must find her, do you understand? I'm going to get the baby. Take this." He handed her the TARDIS key. "I'll find you with it, so don't lose it. Now go!" Iris slipped the key into her bodice and pulled Rose upright. He turned away.
"Come on Rose." Iris said. Rose remembered his name.
"Doctor!" He came back and hugged her.
"It'll be alright Rose. Just do as Iris tells you."
"Don't go." Rose said, taking his hand. He squeezed her hand, then dropped it, turning to Iris.
"Take care of her." Then he was gone.
"This way." Iris supported Rose and guided her across the hall and through a tiny door they had to bend double to get out of. The night air was cold and the world spun dizzily around Rose. "No! Rose, listen to me. Keep focused." Iris led them away and Rose saw only a grey blur, a wooden door, wet steps. Then they'd stopped and she sat down on the wet floor.
"Rose…what's going on?" Iris asked.
"The Doctor…he's coming back, right?" Rose asked, grabbing Iris' hand. Iris nodded and sank down beside Rose.
"He said he would. And he clearly loves you."
"He doesn't love me. I always do stupid things and mess everything up." Rose mumbled.
"How long have you known him?" Iris asked.
"Couple of months, maybe. He's been showing me the universe in the TARDIS." She smiled drunkenly at Iris, who was staring at her. "I think I love him though, sometimes."
"I was right. You are the intruder." She hissed. "You and that Doctor both."
"We came here to save the baby. He's important, you know. He'll grow up and save the world, or something." Rose wavered, and Iris grabbed her shoulder, holding her steady.
"You came here specifically to save the baby?" She asked incredulously. Rose nodded.
"But I messed that up too. I'm just a stupid ape." She started crying. "He called me that, when I tried to save my dad."
"You tried to save your father and he called you that?" Iris said, shocked. "What's stupid about that?"
"We went back in time to do it, because my dad died when I was little. I saved him…and it all went wrong. Because he was alive and he shouldn't have been. I nearly killed the Doctor by doing that. But my daddy was brave and saved us all." Rose sniffed and wiped at her makeup, which was running again. "I'm so tired." She leaned her head on Iris' shoulder and closed her eyes.
"No!" Iris jerked away and shook her. "Rose, stop it! What about the other Rose? What's her plan?"
"Be Queen. Have the whole planet loving her." Rose didn't open her eyes, and her head wobbled as Iris shook her slightly. "They've been giving the courtesans fake information. Patrick loves her." She slumped sideways, her head resting in Iris' lap.
"Rose! Rose, don't!" Iris grabbed Rose's shoulder and shook her again, and saw that the scratch on Rose's back was bleeding and oozing pus. "That's disgusting." She wrinkled her nose. "Rose, come on Rose, wake up!"
There was crash and the structure shuddered, dust falling from the ceiling. Iris looked around, taking in her surroundings for the first time. She was underground, the stairs had told her that. And she was in a building made of stone, of all things. Nothing was made of stone on Zenoba. There was another crash, and more dust drifted down. Then the crying of a toddler pierced through the noise.
"The Doctor." Iris hissed, shaking Rose who lay silent and lax on her lap. "Rose, he's back!" Rose didn't move. Iris gently set her down and stood, looking around. Then she gasped and stepped further back into the shadows alongside the wall. She could hear voices along with the baby's cry, and one of them she recognised instantly.
"Get the brat to shut up." Rose ordered as she emerged at the bottom of the steps, dressed in purple and carrying a torch. Behind her Fitzsimmons, in his bright yellow outfit, emerged holding a newborn toddler which was screaming at the top of it's lungs. There was another crash and more dust, but Rose didn't seem to care.
Iris glanced over her shoulder at the blonde Rose and saw she hadnt move, nor was she likely to. Her breathing was very shallow, but steady. Iris returned her gaze to traitor-Rose.
"We'll just chuck the toddler in the river." She was saying. "It'll drown, I'll be queen. Simple."
"Um, Lady Rose? Which river?" Fitzsimmons asked nervously.
"That one, you moron." Rose snapped, gesturing with her torch, which revealed a narrow fast-flowing channel on the other side of the room, cut into the floor. "It's narrow, but deep." She smiled at Fitzsimmons and he smiled nervously back. Iris started undoing her dress as quietly as she could, untying the laces and shucking off the top and then the skirt. She kicked off her shoes and walked to the river and slipped in, holding onto the side. She couldn't feel the bottom, and the water was icy. It pulled at her, but Iris resisted it, pulling herself upriver by holding onto the sides of the channel, and dunking her head under so her extravagant hairstyle would go wet and flat to her head.
"Here, this will do." Rose said coldly, walking to the channel a little further upriver from Iris. Iris kept kicking water, trying to keep the blood moving in her limbs so they didn't go numb.
"Lady Rose? Is this really necessary?" Fitzsimmons asked hesitantly.
"You can slit the brat's throat if you want, and have its warm baby-blood all over your hands if you like." Rose winked at him and he shuddered. "Here." She thrust the torch at him and held out her arms for the baby. "Give him to me. I'll do it." She took the toddler by one ankle and held it out over the water. Iris was briefly distracted by a light deep in the water, then turned her attention back to Rose as the crying ended with an abrupt splash. Iris saw a flash of pink and dove, grabbing blindly and was rewarded by the feeling of the small body in her hands. She kicked strongly upwards and surfaced with a gasp, the toddler in her arms. She grabbed the side of the channel, and took a gasp of air. Then she looked up and saw Rose and Fitzsimmons standing over her.
"Good little Iris." Rose sneered. "Trying to save the monarchy. You could've been one of my ladies, you know. We were such good friends."
"You were never my friend, traitor." Iris spat. Rose glared, and slammed her heel down onto Iris' fingers. She screamed and let go, sinking beneath the black water. Her mouth filled with icy water and she gasped, drawing more water into her mouth and lungs. The toddler slipped from her hands and she groped blindly for it, but it was gone. She was swept along by the current, and she felt her consciousness leaving her in a quiet velvety blackness, until suddenly she felt someone strike her face.
She choked and rolled over, spitting water out onto a sandy beach. There was a cold wind that brought her skin to goosebumps, and a baby's cry split the night, though it was soon hushed. Iris sat up hurriedly.
"Slowly." The Doctor knelt, the toddler wrapped in the leather jacket he had been wearing earlier, when Iris first met him. "You're safe. So's the baby."
"Rose and Fitzsimmons. They're still out there!"
"Rose…Is Rose alright?" The Doctor asked. Iris shook her head.
"Different Rose. Your Rose is still there, in the stone building. She's dying…could be dead now, I don't know. My Rose…she's a traitor." Iris whispered. "She tried to kill the baby, tried to drown it. Tried to drown me."
"Well, you're both alive." The Doctor said with a grin that quickly disappeared. "Now we have to find Rose." He held out a hand and pulled Iris to her feet before looking her up and down. "Ah." He frowned for a moment, then undid the cloak on his shoulders and handed it to her. She wrapped it around herself thankfully.
"Where are we?"
"Down river from your diving expedition." He explained, setting off at a brisk walk, following the water upriver. Iris clutched the cloak around her and hurried to keep up.
"How are we going to get back to the building?" She asked.
"Back door." He answered succintly, coming to a pile of rocks and passing her the toddler before shoving them out of the way. She jiggled the toddler in her arms as she watched him move the boulders to reveal a metal grate set in the ground. He opened it and gestured towards the stairs that curled downwards from it. "After you."
She nodded, slipping down the steps in her stockinged feet, carefully cradling the toddler to her chest as she went. Soon they emerged at the end of the corridor, and Iris could see a slumped form on the floor.
"Rose." She whispered. The Doctor paused beside her and frowned.
"Yes, but who are they?"
"It's Rose and Fitzsimmons." Iris murmured, approaching them silent on her near-bare feet. The toddler was asleep, and as the Doctor and Iris approached they could hear the quiet conversation between the traitors.
"- just kill her. She knows too much."
"She's as good as dead already."
"But she's not dead yet." Fitzsimmons insisted.
"Who cares?" Rose asked indifferently. "She will be dead in a matter of minutes, the baby's dead, Iris is dead. Anyone who knows anything is dead."
Iris put her foot down on something hard and she picked it up again, and saw the Dom Gabor on the floor. She bent and picked it up, before carrying on.
"Let's go, Fitzsimmons. It's not a big deal, they're all dead and no one comes down here anyway." Rose said. There was a crack that sounded ominously loud and Iris looked over her shoulder at the Doctor who shrugged guiltily. "What was that?"
"Are you sure they're dead?" Fitzsimmons asked. Rose spun and punched him, and he stumbled back, his hands on his nose.
"Bitch. How dare you touch me?" He demanded.
"I beg your pardon? I am your future Queen, nimrod." Rose snapped. Iris passed the sleeping toddler back to the Doctor and shed the cloak, inching along the wall with Dom Gabor in her hand, closing in on Rose and Fitzsimmons. Then the toddler woke with a cry and Rose spun, the torch shedding light on Iris' face, but not the Doctor, strangely enough. Fitzsimmons grabbed Iris with a triumphant cry and Iris jabbed him in the wrist with the Dom Gabor. Rose punched her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. Iris rolled away from Rose and stood, throwing the Dom Gabor as hard as she could. It stuck in Rose's shoulder, quivering slightly as it protruded from the pale flesh.
"Iris?" Rose asked uncertainly. She touched the pin in her shoulder with a trembling hand before collapsing backwards, striking her head before she fell into the fast moving river and disappeared. Iris turned to Fitzsimmons, just in time to see him stab himself in the neck with his own knife.
Iris turned and ran to kneel by Rose's side. She was, unbelievably, still alive. The Doctor held the toddler in one hand and Rose's hand in the other.
"I don't understand." Iris said. "She should be dead by now."
"Well, I for one am glad she isnt." The Doctor said brusquely. "Get dressed." Iris did as she was told, pulling on her skirt then pulling the half-tied top over her head and tieing it as best she could. The Doctor passed her the baby. "Take the toddler somewhere safe. The palace has been set on fire; the King and Queen are dead. You have to raise the child."
"Who is the child?" Iris asked
"Sapphire's only son."
"But-"
"Take my word for it, alright?" The Doctor ordered. "Now go! Take the toddler somewhere safe. Away from here. There's going to be a bloody war and he has to live to stop it, do you understand?" She nodded.
"But what about Rose?"
"I'll take care of Rose." The Doctor said, lifting Rose's limp form into his arms. "Let's go." He followed Iris and the toddler up the stairs, and then the Doctor walked off towards the TARDIS, leaving Iris alone by the building, the awake-but-quiet toddler in her arms.
"Will she be alright?" Iris called.
"If I can help it. Now go!" He insisted. Iris nodded and turned and hurried off, disappearing into the dark city.
The Doctor let himself into the TARDIS, cursing Rose's big skirts which kept catching on everything. As soon as he shut the door behind him he set her down long enough to get rid of them, doing his best to ignore the sight of her wearing little more than a corset, panties and suspenders. He went to the medical room and set her down on the table, and picked up the scan-healer. He quickly undid the ties on the top part of the dress, revealing the corset. He rolled his eyes and untied that, loosening it but leaving it on. He remembered the way she had looked in the dress, elegant and beautiful, more so than he'd ever seen her, the dress fitting her perfectly, the colour complimenting her pale skin and blonde hair. He drew himself forcibly away from the image of her dancing with Lord Patrick and back to the present, and dealing with the poisoned scratch across her shoulder.
He wrapped one arm around her waist to keep her upright, then started running the scanner over the long ugly scratch on her back. It gradually changed to a more healthy colour, and he felt her breathing lengthen and deepen with relief.
"Come on Rose." He muttered. The scratch scabbed over and eventually disappeared altogether, but she didn't wake. "Rose." He said, laying her down and taking her face in his hands. "Rose!" She tossed her head slightly, her breath catching slightly before continuing. But she didn't wake. He scooped her up in his arms again and carried her to her room, setting her down on the double bed and taking off her shoes before tucking her in and smoothing her hair away from her face. "You have to wake up." He whispered. He kissed her forehead and slipped out of her bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.
&
Rose woke slowly, with the growing awareness that whatever she was wearing was very uncomfortable, and that it definitely shouldn't be slept in again. Her head hurt, as did her shoulder, and she rolled over, bringing her hand onto the pillow next to her face. She stopped, staring at the green satin that still covered her hand. She looked at her other hand and saw it similarly covered. She sat up, and saw she was dressed only in the green and black corset, underwear and stockings. She swung her legs out of bed and slowly stood up, feeling a little dizzy but nothing more.
Quickly she stripped out of the constrictive underwear and redressed in her own familiar bra, panties, jeans and t-shirt. The TARDIS shuddered slightly, and she grabbed the bedpost to keep her balance, the room swimming around her. She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision, then straightened.
She carefully made her way out of her room and down to the main control room. The Doctor wasn't there. She glanced at the controls but saw nothing that gave any clue as to where they were or where they were going. She turned away and left the control room, trying to think of where he'd be. There were loads of places he could be. She sighed and checked her watch.
One o'clock in the morning. If there was a morning when you were travelling through time.
She paused outside of his bedroom, and listened. She could hear him murmuring, but then he shouted something about her. She knocked gently, and when there was no answer, she slipped through the door.
He was in bed, asleep. And dreaming, clearly. It was a nightmare, that much was blatantly obvious. He was tossing his head and frowning, and his hands were clenched so tight that they were losing blood circulation.
"Doctor?" Rose approached his bed. "Are you alright?" He didn't answer. She reached out and touched his face, and felt his hand clamp on her wrist, and suddenly she was lying under him, her hands pinned above her head and a tiny blade at her throat. He looked at her through sleep-clouded eyes that eventually cleared.
"Rose?" He asked, releasing her hands and putting the knife back where it came from, wherever that was. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard you." She said, looking up at him, willing the spots that danced in front of her eyes to go away. "Having a nightmare. I just came to see if you were okay."
"I'm fine." He said shortly. "But you, how are you feeling?"
"Better. I'm a little dizzy sometimes, but it's fine."
"It was close, you know. You nearly died. Again." His voice was serious, but Rose suspected an edge of guilt laced it.
"Yeah, but I didn't, so it's okay. I'm still here, you're still here, so it's all okay."
"No it isnt." He said, getting out of bed and pulling a shirt over his head. He turned to look at her, dressed in grey sweatpants and the shirt and folded his arms. "I promised Jackie I'd keep you safe."
"I'm still alive, so you've not done too badly." She said with a smile.
"Only just. And it's not good enough, you only just being alive! Every time we go anywhere, you nearly die."
"So do you." Rose returned, sitting up at the edge of his bed. "It's a risk we take every time we leave the TARDIS, Doctor. I've known that since the beginning, and yet I keep leaving the TARDIS. All this, everything I see when I'm with you, I wouldn't give it up. Not for anything."
"I don't want you to have to risk it."
"So what are you going to do? Lock me in my room? Take me back to Earth where I could get hit by a car? Mugged? Murdered? Killed in an alien invasion? A car crash? Doctor, no matter where I am, what I do, it's a risk. A risk I'm always going to take. And I figure I'm safer taking risks next to you then I would be taking them on my own."
"Rose, I promised Jackie-"
"Sod Jackie, Doctor! She's not here right now, but I am. And you are. And there are all these places, these times, at our fingertips. I'm not going to give it up." She said stubbornly. The Doctor strode forward and took her hands. She looked up at him and shrugged. "I've said it to you a million times, Doctor. This travelling, with you, seeing so many things. I wouldn't give it up for the world. Not for anything."
The Doctor pulled her to her feet and into his arms, and she rested her head on his shoulder as he held her tightly to him. "If you knew what you were risking, you wouldn't say that." He whispered in her ear.
"I don't care. I'm here on the TARDIS with you and that's all that matters." She replied stubbornly. He pulled back slightly and she stared defiantly into his eyes before he smiled slightly, and gently pressed his lips to hers. She tightened her grip around his neck and smiled against his mouth.
She wouldn't give this up for the world.
Fin.