Wibbly Wobbly
By TwinEnigma
Disclaimer: Done for fun, not profit. I do not own the Doctor. I do own a fashionably awesome sonic screwdriver though.
Warnings: Takes place shortly after The Unquiet Dead. Leela/Andred. Ninth Doctor and Rose friendship
The place was Hyde Park, London and the time was 1851. Rose Tyler, shopgirl turned time traveler, was enjoying every second of the trip. The corset and dress... not so much, but to be walking around in the Crystal Palace during the original run of the Great Exhibition was well worth the pain. In her mind, it also more than made up for that slight disaster of a detour to Christmas, 1869 that she and her dashing big-eared host, the Doctor, had made earlier that night.
Speaking of same, the Doctor was guiding her through the building and talking non-stop a mile a minute about the architecture and the endurance of the image of the building for centuries to come. He was such a strange character to her. One minute he was cheerful and as excited as a kid at Christmas and the next he was like one of those grouchy old men from the neighborhood who got upset over the music kids were playing. She wanted to know more about him, this mysterious Doctor – who was he and where was he from? But for now, she was content to walk arm-in-arm with him and listen to him prattle on and on about the building and exhibits.
They'd strolled on for what seemed like hours and then the Doctor stopped stock still, his face suddenly pale as he looked to his left.
"What's the matter, Doctor?" Rose asked, craning her head to look.
The Doctor quickly turned, ushering her behind the nearest exhibit as fast as her skirts would allow, and then pressed himself behind it as well. He looked over his shoulder once more and then sighed in relief. "Oh good, she hasn't seen us yet."
"Who hasn't seen us yet?" Rose asked. She really, really hoped he wasn't avoiding an ex or something stupid like that.
"What is she doing here?" the Doctor murmured to himself. "Can it be...? No, can't be..."
Rose gave him a good whack on the arm to get his attention. "Doctor, who is it?"
The Doctor gave her a troubled glance and then peeked back around the corner again. "Do you see her, that woman in the pink dress by the tree on the left?"
Rose moved a bit so she could see and quickly scanned the crowd. There, by the tree, was a dark-haired woman in a pink dress. "Yeah, I see her," Rose said. "What's the matter? She your ex?"
The Doctor immediately paled, a look of horror on his face, and blurted, "No, no, nothing like that! Leela, she's like... family, Rose. I haven't seen her since the war."
"We should go say hello then, right?" Rose said, smiling coyly as she started forward.
The Doctor caught her arm, tugging her back behind the exhibit. "No, no, no!"
"Why not?" Rose asked, "Don't you miss her?"
"I can't," the Doctor said, looking truly anguished. "I'll explain later. Besides, she probably wouldn't even recognize me."
"Oh come on," Rose giggled, ducking out of his grasp even as he protested again, and started across the floor to the woman. She couldn't help herself. She had to know more about him and this was a prime opportunity. If the Doctor wanted to hide behind an exhibit the whole time, well, it was his loss.
"Hello, Leela, right?" Rose asked.
The woman in pink turned, giving her a quick once-over. She was older than Rose had thought, maybe in her early thirties. "That's correct," she replied at last. "Have we met?"
"I'm a friend of the Doctor's – Rose, Rose Tyler. I travel with him," Rose said. She felt inexplicably self-conscious under the older woman's intense gaze.
"The Doctor?" the woman's eyes softened immediately. "How is he? Still getting lost?"
"All the time," Rose smiled. So his sense of direction had always been poor. "I'm surprised aliens haven't shown up to melt down the palace yet."
Leela laughed, smiling broadly even as she began to shake her head. "Oh, never a dull moment with him around! Poor thing attracts trouble, but I've got a saying: always be prepared," she said, patting the small purse she carried, "Even if you're on holiday."
Rose smiled thinly. Would she also need to carry something to protect herself in the future?
"So, where is the Doctor?" Leela asked, craning her head as she scanned the crowd. "I haven't seen him in ages."
"Well..." Rose began.
"There you are!" the Doctor said, practically swooping in from behind her. "Been looking for you, Rose."
"I was just talking with Leela," she said, pointedly jabbing him in the ribs with an elbow.
Leela gave him a curious glance, her eyes narrowing at his leather jacket and out-of-place clothing. "A friend of yours?"
"Ah, yes, Ben, Ben Jackson," the Doctor said, reaching forward to shake her hand with both of his. "And you must be Leela. Fantastic, fantastic, you're just as I imagined you'd be. The Doctor speaks fondly of you and your husband. Andred, was it?"
Rose was flummoxed. Why would he lie about who he was? And if they were as close as he'd said, why didn't she recognize him?
"I'm sure he does," Leela said and Rose got the feeling Leela really didn't believe that at all. "Where is he?"
"Oh, he's back on the TARDIS, doing some repairs," the Doctor said, as if it were hardly of any consequence. "Told us to go out and enjoy the sights, that sort of thing."
"How long have you traveled with-?" Leela asked.
"Leela! There you are!" a man's voice called out from nearby. Pushing out of the crowd was a charming-looking young man with dark hair, dressed in the fashion of the day. He carried a small boy in one arm and led another older boy by the hand, the very picture of a proud father as he approached and kissed Leela on the cheek. "Sorry about the delay. The boys got a bit carried away."
"Oh dear, again? And I can guess who was behind it," Leela said, taking the younger boy from him and balancing him on her hip. She then turned, gesturing to Rose and the Doctor, and added, "Andred, I'd like you to meet Rose Tyler and Ben Jackson. They're friends of the Doctor. Rose, Ben, this is my husband, Andred, and these are my sons."
The older son ducked behind his father's legs, peeking out shyly.
Andred gave Rose a pleasant smile, but that smile slipped a little as his gaze turned to the Doctor. If Rose hadn't been watching, she'd never have seen it. "It's always a pleasure to meet friends of the Doctor," Andred said at last, smiling thinly as he reached out to shake the Doctor's hand. "He's one of the greatest men we know."
"We named our youngest after him," Leela added, smiling at the boy in her arms and tickling his stomach. "Even has the same sense for getting into trouble."
The little boy in her arms giggled, leaning into the curve of her shoulder, and shyly looked at Rose, then the Doctor. He scrunched up his face in confusion and pressed his face into his mother's shoulder.
"Hold on," Rose said, in abject confusion. "You named him Doctor?"
"Well, something like that," Andred admitted, giving the Doctor a sharp look. "We usually call him by his nickname, Thete, to avoid confusion."
The Doctor winced, pretending to check a watch, and took Rose by the arm. "We should probably get going. The Doctor's likely finished fixing the time-rotor by now and will be wondering where we are."
"Oh, do tell him to stop by," Leela said, reaching out and catching the Doctor's sleeve. "We've missed him."
The Doctor hesitated, his entire body tense as a spring.
Rose chewed her lip a little. Something about this whole situation had seriously put him on edge and she had the feeling she should be doing something to help. Even a little bit could help. Promising herself she'd interrogate the Doctor later, she smiled at the older woman, putting a reassuring hand on hers and said, "Don't worry, we'll tell him."
"Thank you," Leela smiled, withdrawing her hand, and the Doctor relaxed just a little bit. "It was a pleasure to meet the both of you."
"Take care," Rose said, waving as she and the Doctor started to move away.
They'd hardly gone more than a few paces before the Doctor paused, turning back, and shouted, "Oy! Thete, don't you worry your mother!"
"A bit late for that!" Andred called back.
"That it is, that it is," the Doctor said, turning back with a troubled expression. He tugged Rose's arm a bit and started to walk again. "Come on, let's go."
"Slow down!" she hissed, stumbling a little over her skirts. She quickly tugged them up with her other hand. "What's gotten into you?"
"I'll explain later," the Doctor grumbled, guiding her through the crowd as quickly as he could. Something clearly had him spooked. He hardly even noticed he'd nearly knocked over some dishy bloke in a velvet frock coat – Rose gave the poor man an apologetic wave as they hurried on, all the way back to the TARDIS.
"Doctor, you're scaring me," she managed, digging her nails into his arm.
He slowed, staring at her for a moment, and then looked away. "You're human, you wouldn't understand."
"Please, Doctor, tell me," she begged as he began to start the TARDIS. "What's wrong? Why did Andred look at you like that?"
The Doctor gave her another long look and then sighed, hitting the switch to start the engines. "Do you remember how I mentioned a war?"
"Yeah, of course," Rose said. He looked away and then it hit her, like a sledgehammer. "Oh my god. They're dead?"
The Doctor focused on fiddling with the console. "A lot of people died in the war."
"But they were so happy," she managed, reeling. Her hands found the railing and gripped hard. The image of Leela and her family was stark in her brain. The child named for the Doctor, the shy older brother hiding behind his father's legs, Leela's smile and Andred's pride in his children. They were so young.
"I know," the Doctor said quietly. "I know."
"Couldn't we have done something, Doctor?" Rose asked. He knew, he knew what would happen the whole time and he just stood there. He hadn't even wanted to talk to them.
"No," the Doctor answered, his face stormy. "It's fixed. I wish I could, but I can't. They'd been dead for years before you started traveling with me, Rose. They were always going to die in that war, do you understand?"
She turned to stare at him, horrified, and then stopped. He was shaking, his hands white-knuckled on the edge of the TARDIS console. Oh god, that's why he'd stayed away, that's why he'd been in a hurry to leave – he was afraid he'd slip up and say something.
"Andred's a Time Lord, like me. He knew that I was from the future and he didn't want me telling him. Good man, Andred, good man," the Doctor added. "Leela's a clever girl, she'd have figured me out in a minute if he hadn't stepped in."
For several moments, there was a painful silence.
"Did any of them survive?" Rose asked, staring down at her hands and feeling utterly sick.
The Doctor hesitated and then answered, "The youngest. He was the only one."
Rose sniffled, covering her face with her hands, and took a deep breath. "Where do you think he is now?"
"If he's smart, he's running," the Doctor said, looking up at the TARDIS core, "He's probably still running. Never going to stop."
"We could go and look for him," Rose suggested, rubbing at her eyes.
The Doctor shook his head slowly. "Wherever he is, he'll be all right."
"You think so?" Rose asked.
"Trust me, I'm the Doctor," he replied.
AN: There are two lines that change the way to read this story.
One: The Doctor lies to Rose when he says the youngest son is the only one of Leela's family to survive the Time War. Read this way, it's Ninth Doctor confronted with the horrible knowledge that he's guilty of condemning a former friend/companion and her family to their deaths in ending the Time War.
Two: The Doctor tells her the truth - the youngest son, the Doctor, is the only survivor. He's named after himself.
There are enough hints that either way is plausible.