*Rosy Paradox*

~WhiteGloves~

~I am in too many fandoms~

WHO isn't? ;)

But the Doctor and Rose just got/deserve love from here too!

-Enjoy Reading!-

Chapter 1: Red & Blue

The stars twinkled white and yellow in the silent space and for a moment everything was peaceful and quiet. Quite right too but nobody knew that—nobody was watching the galaxy at the moment for all were busy in their own affairs be them aliens and more aliens; humans were always preoccupied to look up at the sky (except maybe for Donna's uncle, Wilf, bless him) so never mind them.

Still, for a short-lived moment, the universe was at peace.

Till starlight made a horizontal mark on the otherwise dark sky, cascading down its path and seemingly without any point of direction. Using starlight to describe it was an understatement, however, it was more of a blue hurricane. That police box known as the TARDIS making an appearance in blinking seconds till it was gone.

If people had seen it, they were lucky. It had been awhile since the box had landed on earth. It had been awhile since a human had glimpse of that tall, thin, young man with too much hair wearing a pinstriped suit and tie.

Everything on Earth was quiet, uneventful and downright boring if one must say.

Meanwhile, an assault was happening inside the TARDIS as it violently shook its inside while twirling in outer space and time. Like a spinning top, it continued to race down and long the open highway of the universe to who knows where with only the Doctor at its command. Oh yes, The Doctor who was now battling the inside of the tornado with all energy, like he usually does, with hands clamped the metal railings made for such rigorous activity.

"Come on then, we can't make biscuits without beating the eggs!" the Doctor called out with a huge, split grin on his face, his eyes dancing excitedly in the middle of the tumult like there was nothing he would rather be doing than feeling his body getting violently shaken by the TARDIS. He continued rambling on, "Although that would make a fine analogy—however most of the finest things on earth are produced by proper mixings, shakings and shagging— oh did I just say 'shagging'? Oh yeeesss, shaggingly shagging shagging—what fine beings Earthen people are— they are all basically living in a TARDIS except they're stuck on one cosmos and time— don't you agree, eh?"

He looked up brightly on his left expecting to find another jovial face of a companion excited for this adventure but there was none. The Doctor paused despite the roll and travelled his eyes slightly on the blank space usually occupied by a friend, a comrade in fun but found it empty. The sight reminded him he was on his own and alone.

For a split second, the smile on the Doctor's face disappeared, the light on his eyes faded and his hearts lost their music like a machine getting shut down—but like a reminder that he was not actually alone, there was a feet-lifting shake like a car hitting a bump on the road without warning from the TARDIS—and the Doctor's head bobbed on his shoulders—

"Oomph!" was the only sound he could make before turning up the TARDIS again. "Oi! You can't keep making me lose my head—amnesia isn't going to work on me. And the idea is actually dangerous—imagine me losing me, again?"

Another bumpy shake on the floor made the Doctor roll his eyes and turn to the screen again.

"Well, mash up we should be reaching the Galloway soon. Then we can make double Ood heads and fish toes on what in Kafka is causing your radar to respond red when we're across dimensions."

It's true, since a few months back the TARDIS had been acting weird with its radar always sensing a disturbance from different spaces on the universe. It was only a red signal at first, hardly determinable by its distance and location as it only kept on appearing and disappearing like playing hit the mole—it would go on and off and whenever the TARDIS sensed it and soon disappears on the next beat. The Doctor had been curious of the activity for weeks—what kind of object would make the TARDIS react so uncomfortably? The Doctor could feel it tremble on his very skin like a restless bee agitated to find its way home? The TARDIS had gone on for another week like that that when the third warning from the radar appeared, the Doctor decided to pursue it. Allon—sy it should be fun ride!

With luck (which was extremely rare considering it could have taken him another century) it took him another week to find the signal and hook up on to it, which brought him and the TARDIS spinning on that side of the Universe till the stop. The signal was stagnant on the monitor and Doctor just knew this was the time he can finally expose the true meaning behind the unknown source of mystery. If fortune would have it, it might be another discovery—an alien amongst alien— or another treasure lost in the Universe.

The signal was stronger after finally making it out of the zone and the Doctor had to pull one of the levers for a more stable movement before finally letting go of the metal railing he was clinging on. It took him awhile to check out the outside for then, his head had automatically turned on his surrounding again, ready to ask that eternal question to his companion— 'Ready to see what's out there?'

It didn't take him two heartbeats to remember there was no one there.

"Shall we see it then?" he asked loudly as he focused his glasses on the screen once more and pushed buttons to zoom the screen outside and squinted his eyes at the empty space. The signal didn't turn off this time, after so many times of trying to catch it, it was finally unmoving; like it had been suspended in midair a few feet from where the TARDIS was yet cannot quite visibly see it. The Doctor waited patiently with bright eyes expectant on the monitor.

It didn't take him long to hear himself chant repeatedly the words as a sign of growing impatience.

"Come on, come one… show yourself, what are you?" he drummed his fingers on the panel with unblinking eyes ever on the empty space where the signal was. "I wouldn't let you get away this time when I'm this curious… come on…"

In the heat of anticipation, it came as a surprise to the Doctor when the screen shut black—

"What?" he heard himself exclaim, though he was also sure he said that in another, much heavily accented language. He clicked the buttons on the panel again with confusion and vexation painting on his expression that ended in a familiar arch of eyebrows. His fingers took the challenged however and went on pushing more buttons that had something to do with emergency wiring, emergency satellites and just about any emergency extras he could get himself on—till finally the screen flickered on again and there—on his screen which was empty a moment ago now he found a large, flat vessel ten times the size of the TARDIS. It looked like a beaten war vessel with some of its parts already rusty; patches of metal plates were around it from its many repairs and one of its anchors was broken but all the same, it was still working. A white flag above it suggests as much as the Doctor expected. It was one of his favorite ships of all next to TARDIS—the Galleon.

The Doctor stared in amazement for awhile and then a split second next, he was smiling wide.

"No, really?" he muttered excitedly as he clicked on the panel again to raise his signal to be acknowledged. Contact transmission was established in the next second and on his screen appeared a face of one of the galactic hosts whose race the Doctor was familiar with: Fuotars—merchants of the Universe.

"Will you look at that? The Lord I was just looking for!" beamed the alien on the monitor who looked like an oversized, overgrown human-lion but with thickening eyebrows, dark orbs for eyes and brown furs all over the body and no ears, except for three holes on each side and on the forehead wearing red armory. "A new face but still the same— The Doctor and the TARDIS! Well, I can only recognize you because of your box—"

"Oh, old space junkie!" the Doctor ejaculated with his nose almost pressed on the screen as he addressed the Captain of the ship he had helped on some occasions. "I mean very very old—"

"Yeah, yeah, careful on the junkie—" the Fuotar shook its mane head, "We don't actually collect junks—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the Doctor imitated the Fuotar's tone, "You go 'round different orbits picking up stuff lost on the outer space and bid and sell them according to value—of course no, that's not a full description of 'junk' at all. Cleaning the Universe from unwanted scrapes lying around…" He grinned amicably upon seeing the creature roll its dark eyes. "How are you friend, Sully?" he proceeded on asking.

"Describe 'friend', eh? And who's Sully? Have you been talking to my brother? It's Ruffold." Ruffold shrugged his mane, "Still treasure hunting, I suppose? Business is booming on this side, the Galleon's been busy cruising here and there." He referred to the gigantic ship. "How about you? Still getting lost 'bout the Universe? And with a new body—how many times have you died this cycle? Been awhile since I last saw you—what was it?A century ago? You look a spot younger—"

"Don't exaggerate, it's way spot than that and it's been half millennia." He grins manically at the memory.

"No? Just last time you were poking around my treasure chest and what've you found—"

"Bulb for the top of my TARDIS, button of my coat and uh… oh, my flat shoes! Really valuable all of them are." he chuckled as he tapped his foot on the ground. "But basically they all look like stuff from earth—"

"How many humans have gotten lost over the century in the space of the future, you should know, you're the Time Lord. All of them getting sucked by wormholes and cracks in time. You should see the Crates of Dipper—damn that was a real slice for Earthlings just because they can't keep their feet on their own ground."

"Yep, they can't. And hey, I did Crates of Dipper." The Doctor looked thoughtful for awhile, his eyebrows contorting as he raised a hand and rubbed his chin, "I was there following something…" then his eyes fell on the red signal on his radar and almost cursing himself, he remembered why he was there in the first place. The Galleon was unmoving; the same with the signal and adding the two together didn't take long for the Doctor to figure out. "Which reminds me, have you been scavenging this area for a while?"

"Describe 'a while."

"Weeeell, y'know… half an hour at least?"

"No, we've only just teleported here right before we found you. Why? Are you looking for anything specific? I can sell—"

"You should know better than to ask me that—I look for many things—I could be looking for you but possibly not right now, but I might be in different time and space—" he was cut off midsentence as Ruffold raised a hand.

"Well, still asking in case you want something I have. Mind you—we've got tons of pickup last week and a month ago. Can't believe we've gotten those things ahead of the pirate ships, if you know what I mean—"

"Yep—always know what everybody means. Hang on—" the Doctor felt something hit him at the back of his mind, "Didn't you say 'the Lord I've been looking for'? You been looking for me?"

"Tell me who doesn't look for you." Ruffold gave a short chuckle and said something behind him before turning back on the screen, "Tell you what—why don't you come aboard and look around the new ones we've found?"

The Doctor hid his glee. "Oh, I don't know… your stuffs are taken from outer space, which means there are still owners out there who could want em' back."

"Basically dead owners," Ruffold smirked, "and if they are alive, I tell you they usually turn out to be the aliens we occasionally pick up flying on space, lost and who do not give inkling to their objects afterwards but only their safety passage back to the space police. Except for that one time we caught a flying blue box that lost its power. The owner didn't shed conscience and literally tied himself to the blue box while there I was thinking he would show gratitude by giving it for me to sell. Stubborn old Time Lord, that alien was."

The Doctor was grinning from ear to ear as Ruffold winked at him. "That's why I love your spaceship! Well, not more than I love the TARDIS—she could hear us, y'know?"

"The entrance is accessible now, come on in."

The Doctor was already controlling his panel when he heard Ruffold speak again.

"Incidentally, Doctor, didn't you say you were the last of your kind?"

"Yeah." Still pushing buttons. "Why?"

"Well, one of our pickup last week was an alien and she's still on board. That's why I had wanted to find you. You might want to look her up. It didn't seem like she wants to go to the galaxy police. It didn't seem like she wants to do anything at all."

The Doctor arched an eyebrow for a second, before making a face with lips downward.

"Yeah, I'm the Doctor. But why not just send her to a medical planet? It's been a week—she could've been worst now. What if you haven't found me?" The TARDIS began its shaky descend towards the open mouth of the Galleon. Turning his head up, he found Ruffold looking back at him curiously. "What?"

"Well, as strange as the cosmos go… this little lady alien got two hearts."

The Doctor didn't seem much amaze as he shrugged. "Aliens, two heads, two bellies, two hearts? Like Deagles race you mean? You can't keep associating me with double-double limby, now captain—"

"No. The scanner we used for sanitation identified her as a Time Lord."

The Doctor who had been talking nonsensical took a beat to absorb what was said. He looked inquiringly at the Fuotar who blinked back at him, not intending to repeat what he said. When finally it seemed like there was no change in the testament did the Doctor's jaw dropped and his voice tuned up in disbelief—

"What?"

"There's got to be a mistake." The Doctor said once he was already on the corridor of the Galleon in his pinstriped suit and hands jammed deep on both pockets. Captain Ruffold met him as they secured the TARDIS and was now leading him to a show room of the rarest object in the Universe the Doctor could get his eyes on. Objects by objects were on display case—most of them of human made which was considered of high value depending on age. The Doctor stopped to look at one long stick made of wood with what appeared to be a human finger at the end. Making another face, the Doctor went on walking and saw metals and stones of different nature on the next display case. Guns, spears and other weaponry were on the next aisle and this perked up the Doctor's interest someone. "Your collection for weapons has increased, I noticed."

"A group of space bandits just went toe to toe with the galaxy police last month, most of those objects were the ones left behind. Mind you, I did get proper authorization for that."

"From who?"

"Me."

"That's saying a lot."

"I'm the Captain."

The Doctor chuckled. "Well, I don't like weapons you know. Don't like, don't like don't like fighting."

"You've always been the pacifist as far as I remember. But you always still tinker yourself into trouble. I heard about the Daleks, the whole universe did."

"I don't like them either and I suppose, so unless I could help with bare hands and screwdrivers—tell me is that a Primitive axe?" he pointed to a white rock the size of half the TARDIS door.

"It is. Got it from Asgardian planet couple of days back." Ruffold stood behind the Doctor who went on admiring the axe. "Are you not that concern with the lady alien?"

"Huh?" the Doctor glanced up and the two began walking again, "No, no not really. There could be some mistakes with data, because believe me when I tell you I'm the last of my kind. No other little lady aliens should come after my step is what I'm telling you."

"Well, that's just your luck then since she's very unresponsive." They stopped in front of a close door which opened upon the Captain's palm touch on a button. They went inside. "But she's very pretty. If she's really lost and you won't claim her then I suppose I have to—"

The Doctor's eyes sharpened as he glanced at the alien beside him—

"You're not selling her, are you?" he asked, his voice was point calm, which was usually a bad thing for the receiving end.

"Well," the Captain swayed his head uncomfortably, "this is a Galleon ship, what else do you think it does?"

"Should I remind you of the Galactic Law of Alien trafficking?" The Doctor felt heat at the pit of his stomach and for a moment, their walk was cut short with the Doctor's heavy eyebrows and eyes on his companion. He knew there were some shady activities with a ship this big but it shall not happen under his watch. The Doctor considered the lady alien saved because at that moment he just wanted to pick her up and bring her to the space police himself.

"Well, not that I intended it to," Ruffold cleared his throat and they began walking again, "She was just there on the display case when a patriot customer came by and saw her. He wants her is all I'm saying—but I didn't sell her—obviously she's still around." They turned a corner and stopped at wall which looked more like a window with its blinds drawn. The Captain pushed the button to reveal what's on the other side. "But if you're not gonna claim her, then she's all his. I'm not keeping her for fun, Doctor."

The display glass opened crystal clear and what the Doctor saw was enough for him to forget about all the knowledge in the world, for there, right before his eyes, appearing like some sort of a ghost was the face he had been too keen to see in his long life even just once- but knew it impossible.

"No…" he found himself whispering as he stepped into the glass and raised a hand to reach for her but the glass separated them. A convulsion of fire erupted from his insides upon seeing her there in the next beat— that blonde hair, those brown eyes that used to be fiery bright now dampen in spirits and blank… encapsulated in a glass cage— but it was impossible… the sight of her with arms around her knees, staring in emptiness, wearing a white gown—she seemed cold but nobody seemed to give attention to it.

"Do you know her?" Ruffold called from somewhere far. "If you do I mightn't give her to my customer after all, as a show of good faith—"

"Release her. Now." His hands had closed into fists, his eyes fixed upon her.

"What?"

The Doctor turned to the Captain with blazing eyes of fire and daggers—he had never felt so much anger in his life—not after the war—not after the constant threat to the people he cared about—not this so much anger to find Rose—even if it was a replica of some sort—whatever was the explanation—no figure of Rose in his mind's eye will be allowed to exist like this—!

"I said release her! NOW!" the Doctor, in rage, yelled for the whole Galleon to hear.

*TBD*

A/N: Sorry if it's a bit crappy. Me muddledhead but I got the story straight ;)

Will be seeing the chapter soon!

~Thanks for Reading~