A million things have happened, that's why I'm really late. Don't murder me.
I'm going to start with rehashing, for the most part, and then, when I'm not rehashing specific episodes, I will be filling them in with my own adventures. However, I will not rehash A Christmas Carol, I find that it would be a bit excessive, though I may reference it later on.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, but writing this fanfiction, I suppose, is close enough.
After the light and playful mood in the console room, Rose wasn't sure if she should tell the Doctor about her dream. That, and they were currently busy trying to figure out who the invitations were from and if they should arrive at the invitation's location.
Though, if Rose were honest, she didn't want to tell the Doctor, or felt like she shouldn't. She had put it off and ignored it each time that she had dreamed it.
The Doctor was currently arguing as to why they shouldn't visit the location and time indicated on said invitation.
"We can't just go gallivanting off to a mysterious location! We don't even know who it's from or how we were pulled out of the vortex!" he disputed, gripping the console so hard his knuckles turned white.
"It's never stopped us before! How will we find out if we don't attend?" Rose countered, coming to stand next to the Doctor, placing her hands over his.
"Oh, fine," the Doctor grumbled, giving in and flipping a lever. "But only because I can never say no to you!"
Rose flashed him her trademark tongue-in-teeth grin.
Shaking his head, he set the coordinates and they were off.
After quite a bit of rumbling, they landed and the Doctor took off towards the doors, invitation in hand, not bothering to check the monitor to see where they had landed.
Rose stayed beside the console, feeling like there was something so utterly wrong.
The Doctor popped his head back in. "Well, aren't you coming? I ordered us some cokes!"
Rose shook her head trying to clear it. The Doctor walked up to her, placing his hands on either of her shoulders. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rose said dryly. The Doctor looked disbelievingly at her for a moment before running down the one of the TARDIS' corridors.
He appeared a moment later, holding two straws. Rose giggled, knowing what they were for. He grabbed her hand and they walked out of the TARDIS.
They came to more doors outside of the TARDIS, and the Doctor led her through them too.
Rory, Amy, River, Jack, and Ianto stood before them. The feeling in Rose's stomach plummeted even further. The five stared at them in disbelief. The couple waved at their friends, though the Doctor didn't understand why Jack and his friend, Ianto, were there.
"This is cold," River said, addressing them. "Even by your standards, this is cold."
"Or, hello, as people used to say," the Doctor said, excited to see his friends.
"Hello," Jack said with a wink, coming up to give Rose a hug, which was longer than usual. "Haven't seen you in a while, Rosie."
The other four people looked at him quizzically, seeing through his lie.
"Jack," the Doctor warned. Jack backed off and went back to stand by Ianto.
"Doctor," Amy said, almost tearfully.
"Just popped off to get Rose and our special straws. They add more fizz," the Doctor said proudly.
Rose forced a smile onto her face. She loved seeing her friends, but something was so obviously off about them.
"Rose," Amy said again, approaching them carefully. She came up to them, circling them slowly. "You're okay. How can you be okay?"
"Hey," the Doctor spoke gently, "of course we're okay. We're always okay. We're the King and Queen of Okay." The Doctor ensnared Amy in a hug, patting her back.
Rose shook her head gently at the Doctor, indicating that it was most definitely not okay to be called that. She walked over to Ianto and Jack, giving them both hugs. Ianto looked like he was about to break down into tears, like he had had enough loss for a lifetime, which he probably had.
The Doctor headed Rose's advice. "No, forget that title." He released Amy, heading for Rory. "Rory the Roman, that's a good title! Hello, Rory."
Rory looked confused as the Doctor hugged him for a split second. The Doctor turned to Ianto and Jack, with Rose beside them, then thought better of it. Instead, he turned to River. "Doctor River Song, oh, you bad, bad girl. What trouble have you got for us this time?" he asked playfully.
River gave him a very audible smack. Everyone stared at her with varying degrees of shock.
"Okay," the Doctor flexed his jaw, "have you met Jackie Tyler, by any chance? You're almost as bad as her," he asked sarcastically. Judging by her expression, he knew it wasn't time to joke around. "I assume that's for something I haven't done yet."
"Yes, it is. I should give Rose one too," River said, the epitome of all seriousness. Rose moved slightly behind Jack and Ianto, knowing that if River slapped anything like her mother, it would hurt.
"Good, looking forward to deserving it," Rose said, remaining behind the two men.
"I don't understand," Rory finally voiced himself. He poked the Doctor's chest, "How can you two be here?"
Realisation dawned on Rose as she finally understood the sinking feeling in her stomach. It hadn't been a dream. She glanced up and Jack and Ianto, Jack's face portraying nothing, while Ianto's portrayed everything that she needed to know.
They had died.
The Doctor looked at Rory incredulously. "We were invited. Date, map reference, same as you lot, I assume. Otherwise, it's a hell of a coincidence. Though, I don't understand why Jack and Ianto are here," the Doctor finished, pointing over his shoulder at Ianto and Jack.
"River," Amy said, still cautiously. "What's going on?"
"Amy, ask them what age they are."
"That a bit personal," Rose said, leaving Ianto and Jack and coming to stand next to the Doctor.
"Tell her what age you are," River prodded.
"I'm nine hundred and nine," the Doctor told.
Rose sighed grumpily, "Well, how am I supposed to know? All that time in that stupid box-y prison, bound to mess up my counting. I believe I'm almost sixty."
"But you said-" Amy started but River cut her off.
"So where does that leave us, huh?" River started panicking. "Jim the Fish. Have we done Jim the Fish yet?"
"Who's Jim the Fish?" Rose asked, voicing the Doctor's question.
"I don't understand," Amy said, shaking her head and repeating Rory's previous concerns.
"Yeah, you do," Jack stated, him and Ianto coming to join the conversation.
"I don't! What are we all doing here?" the Doctor stated loudly.
River looked like she was about to have a meltdown, so Jack explained, "We've been recruited. Something to do with space, 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware the Third."
The Doctor walked past Ianto, Jack, and Rose, chewing on his straw. "Recruited by who?"
"Someone who trusts you and Rose more than anybody else in the universe," River choked, glancing at the number on the envelope in Rose's hands.
"And who's that?" Rose questioned.
"Spoilers," River said simply.
"Fine, into the TARDIS then," the Doctor sighed.
Rose giggled as Ianto and Jack took in the console room.
"You've redecorated, Doctor," Jack smirked.
"New face, new TARDIS," the Doctor explained, him and Rose jumping around the console. Rose helped him set the coordinates for Amy and Rory's place.
"I don't like it," Jack said, finishing his thought. The Doctor glared at him, hurt. Rose patted the Doctor's back and shot Jack a look.
Amy, River, and Rory took their respective places at different places on the railings, while Ianto and Jack stayed beside the doors. Amy looked lip she was deep in thought, Rose could sympathise with her.
"1969! That's an easy one! Funny how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches," the Doctor stopped off at Amy to talk about 1482 before returning to help Rose at the console.
"Now, Canton Everett Delaware the Third. That was his name, yeah?" Rose asked, searching him in the TARDIS' databanks.
"How many of those cane there be. Well, three, I suppose," the Doctor said, coming to stand by Rose at the monitor.
Amy shot River, Jack, and Ianto looks, indicating that they should go underneath the glass flooring. They obeyed.
The Doctor turned to Rose and Rory. "Is everybody cross with us for some reason?" he asked.
"I'll find out," Rory said, following the others.
"Why would they be cross with us?" the Doctor questioned, glaring at Rose.
"I'll find out," Rose repeated, shadowing Rory.
"But all that's still gonna happen? They're still gonna die?" Amy voiced from her seat on the ground. She hadn't noticed that Rose had followed Rory.
"Yeah," Rose answered solemnly.
"How do you know about it, Rosie?" Jack questioned her.
"I keep having these dreams, like nightmares. I have a feeling that I know exactly what happened today."
"We all die, Amy," River said calmly.
"I hope you aren't including us," Ianto pointed out.
Rory ignored him, "We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves."
"Actually, Jack, Ianto, you will still die, eventually. So far in the future that you needn't worry about it," Rose told them, not wanting Jack to get too big of a head. "You're not completely immortal."
Ianto continued on the subject at hand. "So, the Doctor and Rose, in the future, knowing that they're going to die, recruits their younger selves to, what exactly? Avenge them?"
"No, no, that's not the reason," Rose explained. "Avenging is not our style. We forgive our murderers."
"So, what? Save you?" Amy asked.
"That's not their style either," Jack elaborated.
"Well, we have to tell him," Amy tried.
"We've told him all we can. It's bad enough that Rose somehow knows what's going to happen. We can't tell him that we've seen his future self," River tried explaining.
"We've interacted with our own past, it could rip a whole in the universe. Almost did that once, actually," Rose continued.
"Well, further proof that he's done it before!" Amy strained.
"And, in fairness, the universe did blow up the time we were with him," Rory said.
"But he's got to know! You know!" Amy said, indicating Rose.
"Would he? Would anyone?" Ianto attempted to soothe Amy.
Suddenly, the Doctor's head popped down from the floor above. "I'm being extremely clever up here and there's no one to stand around looking impressed. What's the point in having you all?" the Doctor complained, without thinking his mini-speech through.
"Because you love me, Doctor, and we all know that you'd be nowhere without me!" Rose scolded him.
"It's like you can just slap him sometimes," River moaned.
"You already did that," Ianto pointed out.
"River, we can't just let the Doctor and Rose die," Amy tried as everyone made their way up to the console, Ianto and Rory being extra slow, so as to catch the tail end of the conversation. "We have to stop it. How can you be okay with this?"
"The Doctor's and Rose's deaths don't frighten me. Nor does my own. There's a far worse day coming for me," River told her.
Rose wanted to tell River what the Doctor had told her of his first encounter with Professor River Song with Donna Noble. She knew she couldn't and it ate her up just as much, if not more, than not telling the Doctor about their impending deaths.
River joined the rest upstairs, leaving Amy and Rose alone.
"You have to promise not to tell him, Amelia," Rose tried, looking Amy dead in the eye.
"Why?"
"He needs to find out on his own, and, trust me, he will find out. Now, promise me."
"I promise."
"Good girl," Rose praised, making her way up the stairs, Amy following closely behind.
I'm going to end it there, I feel like that's a good length and, you know, then things get a bit sloppy from here on out.
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