I feel a little out of practice with long fics, but Schermionie liked it and her opinion is always the best.
Thank you Jenny (on rooftops) for betareading this :)
Warnings: contain HP reference, alien named by a random generator and a surprise.
Allons-y has no longer has the same flavour. Sure, she is with the Doctor look-alike. Every morning Rose wakes up to the sound of his only-one-heart -beating and every day they follow the same routines.
Yes, they have Torchwood here, but it's not the same. Yes, she is grateful she has him, the one who voices his thoughts into her ear, but still. She misses the TARDIS and space travel and time travel. She misses odd news on the telly and she dislikes the dirigibles in the air. Even though she has her mum and John, it's not her world. It's a future she isn't used to yet. All actions stay in the same dimension. She has seen the universe, how can they ask her to be trapped in a single world?
The Doctor, or John as they call him now, sees it. He has that sad smile on his face whenever he feels she's thinking of the other one. It's the moment he'll choose to grab her gently and whisper soothing stories—their stories, the ones a different world can't take away. Their memories. And when she's calmed, she'll whisper, "I love you so much, John," and it's enough to make him genuinely smile again.
Every day during Tony's afternoon nap, Jackie and Rose check the news on the telly and inform Torchwood of any suspicious happenings. Of course, they have never seen anything, but it's their moment and Jackie insists.
John has just come back from the Institute when Jackie intercepts him.
"Have you seen? Sixty-three people killed themselves at the same time in Spain. It's strange, isn't it?"
"No need to report it to Torchwood, Jackie, probably a sect or something."
"They did say it was in the same area, Mum."
"Maybe, but look at that, I've never seen people so sad and lost in my life."
When Rose watches the telly, she can't help but agree. People are crying, yelling. Everyone is wearing black, their grief is palpable throughout the images. And there is a blur, something that passes across all of the pictures.
"There!" Rose yells. "There, there was something blurry, like a ghost or something."
It's enough to make John watch, but he doesn't see anything. "Probably just the camera, Rose."
"I swear there was something." But when she looks at it again with him, it's gone. No more grey blur on the screen, just grief and pain.
The thing that Rose saw on telly earlier, whatever it was, doesn't leave her. When she closes her eyes, she sees it. She tries to sleep, but she can't.
"John?" she whispers.
"Yes?"
"The thing on the telly, I really saw it, you know. There was something there. Something alien."
"And you know something about alien," he teases and tries to kiss her. But she is determined to make him understand that what she saw was real.
"The Doctor would have known," she whispers to herself. Only it's too late and John hears her.
"We'll see the footage tomorrow," he answers and turns his back to sleep.
Rose dreams of a blue box landing in Spain and defeating Daleks and running with the Doctor.
Rose wakes up to two plane tickets for Cadiz, Spain held by a smiling John with mischief in his eyes. She almost calls him Doctor.
The trip lasts longer than in the TARDIS, but she doesn't mind. It's her and John on holiday and it feels good. She never had real holidays with the Doctor. She had seen worlds and fantastic places but the Doctor never dared look at her like John has. John voices his thoughts, too.
When they land in Spain the weather is clear, hot, and bright. If there is no blurry-grey alien, well, then they'd play tourist, Rose thinks.
"We check in the hotel and we go investigate after," John says. "This is weird, though. We are having a proper stay!"
Rose smiles at his enthusiasm and grabs his arm, "Allons-y"
"Vamos," replies the Doctor with a thick accent. "We're in Spain."
"And we don't have the TARDIS to translate!" Rose realises.
"No, but you have me. I have picked up some little things, you know."
At hotel reception, they see Donna Noble. Rose's urge to call out to her is cut off by John, who whispers, "It's not her."
But once they've checked in , Donna Noble approaches them.
"Can you believe it? Two weeks for the price of one! Spain got cheap and Donna Noble can afford it! Seriously, because the local news said that the suicides were witchcraft."
Donna's familiar laugh and gestures make Rose and John smile.
"Witchcraft you say? There is no such thing."
"I know, but they're believers! Like there is a witch in town. But, hey, it's better for us!"
Donna leaves the hotel, and John inquires about the suicides while the staff takes care of their luggage. Rose doesn't understand a thing they are saying, but the man at the reception doesn't seem willing to share information. John hands him the psychic paper and the receptionist nods.
John turns to Rose. "We're taking a cab to Puerto Real, it's where the suicides took all place."
"They were all in the same town?"
"Yes, and according to this man here, they have been bewitched by a dancer. They all attended a dance spectacle the night before."
"So…"
"I don't know if it's alien or not, but something's wrong."
After twenty minutes of ride, they are there. John is restless; he never waits. He holds Rose's hand all along the drive. He is not used to this—even with Torchwood they have teleporters. But they couldn't tell Torchwood about this.
Rose sighs when she sees what they are going to confront: grieving families, police, journalists.
"What are we?" she asks John.
"Doctors especially deported from London." John answers, but he seems distant, looking into the desert and its mirage of fog.
"Can't you do a quick alien scan?" Rose isn't really willing to talk to all the people without the help of the TARDIS translator.
"No need." John says softly. "Look over there." He points toward the desert. "Dementors."
"What? Like in Harry Potter?" Rose laughs.
"Not quite. Joanne Rowling used them in differently, but they were inspired by the real dementors. I guess that's what you saw on the telly."
"But, I feel fine."
"Oh, these dementors don't make you feel bad or anything. They just 'eat' sadness. They go from planet to planet, looking for it. Feeding on it. But they are harmless."
"But how come we never see them?"
"Oh, they rarely are this numerous! We saw them sometimes, but it's exceptional. Sadness and grief with no anger, no understanding, no rage. We are talking about sixty-three suicides. No one to blame. Sadness is at its highest."
"So, this is what I saw?"
"I think so, Rose. But there is something else. Vamos! It's been a while since I've used the psychic paper on policemen!"
John runs toward the police guarding a secured area, Rose follows him laughing. She has missed this.
John is gesturing and apparently the policemen has difficulty understanding him. After a few minutes, John comes back to Rose. She can't help thinking that everything is back to normal, to before their parting.
"So, the corpses are at the hospital, but that's not what I wanted to know. All the victims did watch a show the night they died…"
John speaks fast. Rose looks at him, her eyes big with anticipation. She is not the only one enjoying this new case, their case, their adventure. For John too, mischief and eagerness are showing.
"Only the dancer didn't kill himself."
"We need to see him!" Rose exclaims.
"Yeah, well, at the moment, no one knows where he is. He ran away the instant he learned the news."
"So what do we do? How do we find him?"
"I'm still working on that."
John takes Rose's hand and adds, "I want to go the hospital though. We never know."
When they arrive in front of the hospital, Rose stretches a big smile. John looks at her, perplexed, laughing.
"Is that…" John is speechless but Rose understands. A big blue British police box in Spain, it's not very common.
"I think so!" she replies, her voice lilting. "I…" she starts to explain,"I texted the TARDIS while we were in the car. Saying that if the doctor finally manages to go through dimensions, he should come to the hospital in Puerto Real, Spain, now."
"Brilliant, Rose!" Rose starts to worry how John will react at her calling reinforcements.
"I thought we would probably need the TARDIS to translate and to find the dancer," she begins to explain. But John shuts her up with a kiss. "Rose, I said, 'brilliant idea'."
They aren't by themselves anymore, but John doesn't mind. They have a lifetime to spend together anyway.
"You're just glad to see the TARDIS," Rose teases and bumps him with her shoulder.
"Yes," he says with a big teeth-showing smile as he takes her hand. "Let's go find the Doctor."
They don't see him anywhere near the hospital. They search for twenty minutes, but they can't find him. And when they try the doors on the TARDIS, they find it's locked.
That's when Rose spots him. "Why is that guy at the café laughing at us?"
"Oh, Rose, I think the Doctor is finally ginger!"
The tall redheaded man rises from his seat and walks toward them. The new doctor looks younger than his previous selves. He is wearing shorts, which confuses John and Rose. They look at each other and laugh.
"You've been calling?" the Doctor says with a flirtatious tone and a wink.
Rose can't help but laugh. The doctor is here, a new one, not hers. She is relieved.
"When are you coming from?" she asks.
"I can't tell," he says. "I can't tell much." He pause. "But I do know how much I have missed you!"
The Doctor hugs Rose and it's awkward. She knows him, but he is different. He has lived so much without her.
"Anyway, what have we got?"
John explains everything to the Doctor and they agree to go see the corpses first.
Rose doesn't like the room, but she can't stay in the corridor either. People are crying everywhere, and she understands that the dementors have a lot to feed on. She looks at John and the Doctor as they wander around the bodies. They are very different. The new doctor is more playful but less dynamic than her John. She moves to meet them.
"So, what have we got?"
"Suicides. Sixty-three suicides. All the causes are different, no supernatural activity. Nothing. Niet, nada."
"I guess finding the dancer is our best shot to know what'shappened here."
They all go to the TARDIS and Rose feels amazing. She has missed it and apparently John has, too. He runs around it and talks to it. She is almost jealous.
"What if we search for what happened that night first? The policemen told me they had a video coverage." Roses asks, interrupting the Doctor and John. They look at each other and nod.
"That's why I love you, Rose Tyler."
She can't help but smile. Her John voices his thoughts, that's the most important.
Finding the video of the show doesn't require the use of the TARDIS and John is a little disappointed. They exit it after a few minutes and the Doctor promises him a trip later.
"Within this world though, the barriers aren't all open yet."
John nods and they exit to go to the police station that according to Rose's mobile internet is only five minutes away.
It hits Rose that however sad she has been in this word, she didn't think of running away in the TARDIS. Maybe they have a life here after all.
She watches John and the new Doctor walking a little ahead of her. They are very different. The Doctor seems at ease in the Spanish heat while John struggles with the collar of his shirt. The Doctor walks slower and Rose can see John slowing down to keep his pace.
She wonders how it would have been with this new she still be alive? And how would have she reacted after him changing is face again? She shakes the thought from her head. It doesn't matter anymore.
Entering the police station is easy, but getting the tape takes is a little more difficult. Seeing the new Doctor using his charms more than the psychic paper makes Rose laugh.
They watch the footage and nothing seems wrong. The dance could be bewitching—that much talent should be illegal. She definely doesn't want turn her head away when that man dances, but she doesn't feel like killing herself at all. John and the new Doctor aren't as confused as she is, though.
"Of course!" The new Doctor exclaims and then he stands and sonics the only evidence tape of the dance.
"We need to find the dancer," John says to Rose.
"But why? What's wrong?"
The two men don't answer. They just run and Rose follows.
They're back in the TARDIS and Rose still has no explanation. Both the new Doctor and John run around the TARDIS's command centre. They depart to timelords know where.
"It's not the dancer who killed them," John starts explaining. "He was being possessed by Clusterdroids. They use movement to pass messages. Harmless between them and for us, we've all seen the Vortex. But for humans… the message can't be decrypted, their brain starts shutting down within a few hours and then…"
"They kill themselves," Rose finishes.
"Basically."
"That's why you deleted the tape?"
The new Doctor nods. "But now we need to find the dancer again, don't let him dance again while he's having a Clusterdroid encrypted movement at his feet."
"What did the message say?" Rose is curious.
"S.O. poor thing is lost, doesn't even realize he is killing humans."
"So we're going to save him?"
"Like good old times, Rose."
And they do, "of course," as the new Doctor would say.