A/N: Recognizable dialogue from Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel. Enjoy!
Chapter 2 – Parallel Worlds and Moving In
It had been a little over three weeks since the events with the clockwork droids on the 51st century spaceship and things had gotten relatively back to normal for the time traveling trio. Mickey soon realized however, that relatively normal meant continuously running from things that wanted to kill or eat you. He found himself enjoying it though; playing the hero, saving worlds and he finally started to realize why Rose took to all of it the way she did and why she never wanted to go back to a mundane, ordinary life. His only quam to all of the traveling so far was how well acquainted both she and The Doctor were with prison cells both on earth and alien planets alike. Mickey got to experience that particular aspect of adventuring first hand thanks to The Doctor's knack for blowing up things, running his gob at the wrong time or just plain trying to show off. The latter earning them almost a whole week in jail upon arriving on the planet Exxilon, where apparently whipping out a sonic screwdriver in front of a race of aliens that had banned any and all types of advanced technology didn't cross The Doctor's mind as being a bad idea.
Still, Mickey had been in much better spirits as of late. He hadn't completely forgiven The Doctor yet for briefly abandoning them but he was attempting to for Rose's sake; even helping him do repair work on the TARDIS. Although the tension on the timeship had dissipated significantly, both The Doctor and Rose were still trying to be careful not to be too blatantly obvious about their new relationship in his presence. Mickey already suspected things between the pair had progressed further than either would let on and although he still felt a slight pang of jealous anger towards the alien, he knew that Rose had made her choice a long time ago and if it meant she would be happy, he knew he would have to let any notion of trying to win her back go.
"Mornin' Boss." Mickey said as he came into the kitchen; walking over to the cabinet and grabbing a glass to pour himself some juice.
"Mickey! Mickety-Mick, Mickey boy." The Doctor said cheerfully; holding up a frying pan. "Pancakes?"
"Yeah, sounds good." He glanced around the room for a moment. "Rose still asleep then?"
"Yeah, I think so." The Doctor said, pouring batter into the pan. "She's seemed a little rundown the last few days. Thought maybe she could use a few more hours."
"Maybe she caught a cold from that dingy prison cell we were in." Mickey observed.
"Not likely." The Doctor shook his head. "The TARDIS neutralizes any germs and infections as soon as you step through those doors."
"Alright, well maybe she jus' needs some rest from all the runnin' then."
The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment. Since the 51st century space ship they had been leaping into one adventure after another and between the continuous running for their lives and their unfortunate; but short incarceration, Rose had seemed even more tired than normal. 'Maybe a little R&R might be in order.' he thought to himself. The two of them hadn't really had any alone time since that one mind-blowing night and it was even starting to take a toll on him. He couldn't seem to stop touching her every chance he got and it took all his willpower not to just push her up against one of the coral struts, or the console, or even the wall of the jail cell and ravage her until she screamed his name. He grinned to himself as the thought of the perfect resort planet came to mind. It would not only provide plenty of distractions to entertain Mickey, but would allow him and Rose to pursue their own activities.
"You ok Boss?" Mickey was waving his hands in front of The Doctor's face to try to get his attention.
"Hmm, oh right! Yes, brilliant actually. Just thought of the perfect place for our next destination Mickey-boy!"
-oOo-
Rose awoke slowly, opening one eye to take in her surroundings. She was sprawled across her bed on her stomach with one arm hanging over the side and sunlight was pouring through the faux window that the TARDIS provided to give her more of a homey feel as well as a sense of normal earth days and nights. She pulled herself into a sitting position and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Rubbing her face with her hands, she glanced over at her phone and realized she had slept through her alarm. She groaned as she stood up to go into the ensuite. She had been feeling so tired lately and the extra sleep had only slightly taken the edge off her exhaustion.
"Ugh, I hope M' not comin' down with somethin'." she said to her reflection as she examined the dark circles under her eyes in the bathroom mirror. The TARDIS hummed concernedly. "I'll be okay old girl." She patted the ship's wall affectionately. "I jus' need a little more rest. Let's go so see what kinda trouble our boys have gotten up to without me, yeah?"
-oOo-
When she walked into the console room The Doctor was dancing around happily flipping switches while Mickey; who was standing next to the console with his finger on one of the buttons, watched him with an amused grin.
"Well, here's trouble." she said with a smile.
"Rose!" The Doctor was practically beaming.
"Mornin' babe." Mickey said with his own grin.
"So what have you boys been up to?" she asked The Doctor as she plopped down onto the jumpseat. "C'mon, share with the rest of the class."
"Well, while you were getting your beauty sleep Miss Tyler," The Doctor swept his eyes down her body appreciatively and she blushed. "I figured out just the place for us to go today." He flipped another lever. "Kataa Flo Ko." he announced. "Oh, beautiful planet. Quite the tropical paradise actually. Crystal clear waters lapping against the orange sand and Diamond Coral Reefs Rose. You're going to love it. A bit of rest and relaxation is just what we need. Maybe even a few…not too strenuous activities as well." he added in a hushed tone, giving her a wink.
She smiled and blushed again. "You sure we're gonna end up in the right place this time?"
"Of course!" He puffed out his chest. "I always get us to where we need to go."
Mickey snorted softly but kept his mouth shut.
"Really?" she countered. "The last time you tried to take me somewhere relaxin' we ended up on that planet that you said helped inspire L. Frank Baum, remember?"
"Oh, right." He tilted his head back; nodding at the ceiling and jamming his hands in his pockets. "The flying monkeys."
"Yeah, I didn't particularly like bein' swept up by those things the minute we exited the TARDIS."
"True, but that was actually quite an adventure in itself. We got to see a view of the kingdom that no one else usually gets to see."
"Ok, what about the 'witch'," she emphasized with finger quotes as she watched him move around the console. "That they were all so terrified of that turned out to be a big, green, eight foot tall gastropod; which water has no effect on by the way unless you count pissin' it off."
"Weeell, good ol' Frank did have to make a few changes to his story to keep it from sounding too farfetched." The Doctor laughed as he moved to sit down beside her on the jumpseat. "Oh, and what about that weird munchkin lady with the big eye, do you remember the way she looked at you?" He moved in closer, his leg pressing up against hers. "And then she opens her mouth and fire comes out."
Rose was laughing and nodding vigorously. "I thought I was gonna get frazzled."
"Yeah, one minute she's just standing there, and the next minute…"
"Rooooar!" they growled simultaneously; making an open mouth gesture with their hands and laughing giddily.
"Where was that then? What happened?" Mickey piped up, looking between them and trying to remind them he was still there.
Sometimes it frustrated him that they could still get so wrapped up in their own little world, making him feel like the proverbial third wheel and he found himself feeling even more perturbed by the surprised looks on their faces as though they had forgotten he was there.
The Doctor shift even closer to Rose and draped his arm across the seat behind her, while Rose absentmindedly chewed her thumbnail. "Oh it was on this um…" he gestured behind him with his thumb and shook his head. "Um, this uh, planet thing…asteroid. It's a long story, you had to be there." The Doctor regarded Mickey for a moment, his eyes shifting from his face to the finger he was currently using to hold down a button on the console and back again. "Um, what are you doing that for?" he asked confusedly.
"Cause you told me to."
"When was that?"
Mickey blinked. "'Bout half an hour ago."
"Um," The Doctor was fighting to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching. "You can let go now." Rose giggled softly.
"Well how long's it been since I could'a stopped?"
The Doctor shook his head, his lower lip jutting out slightly. "Ten minutes…, twenty…, twenty-nine." The last number said in a slightly higher tone.
Mickey looked at him incredulously, his suspicion confirmed. "You jus' forgot me!"
Rose stayed silent but watched The Doctor with an amused grin as he began to sputter an explanation.
"No, no, no," The Doctor denied the accusation. "I was just…I was…" he paused. "I was calibrating." He nodded, more so in reassurance to himself. "I was just…no; I know exactly what I'm doing."
As if on cue, the universe decided to choose that moment to disagree with the Time Lord. There was an immediate explosion from the console, knocking the trio onto the floor as the TARDIS spiraled out of control; dropping out of the Vortex. The Doctor wrapped his arm around Rose's waist and pulled her up with him as he immediately started twisting levers.
"What's happened?" Rose asked in a frightened tone.
"The Time Vortex…it's gone." he said in disbelief. "That's impossible! It's just gone!" The TARDIS shuddered around them as it plummeted from the sky. "Brace yourself, we're gonna crash!" he yelled out; pulling Rose into his arms.
The impact once again threw them to the ground and Rose let out a tiny yelp of fear while Mickey grabbed onto one of the railings to keep from rolling down the ramp as debris began to fall from the ceiling and smoke shot out of the Time Rotor.
"Everyone all right?" The Doctor asked once the shaking had subsided. He looked down at Rose, who was still wrapped in his arms and brushed the hair back from her forehead; checking for injuries. "Rose?" he said concernedly.
"M' ok." she reached up and stroked his cheek before lightly brushing her lips against his.
He smiled, giving her another quick peck. Looking over his shoulder he called out, "Mickey?"
"I'm fine, I'm ok."
The Doctor stood up, pulling Rose with him as he stared up at the Time Rotor. "She's dead," he said softly. "The TARDIS is dead…" His voice choked on the last word.
Rose squeezed his hand gently. "You can fix it." she tried to reassure him.
He shook his head. "There's nothing to fix…" He pressed a few buttons trying to get any sort of reaction. "She's perished… the last TARDIS in the universe."
Rose pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back soothingly.
"I don't even know where we are." he said pulling away to look up at the Time Rotor again. "We fell out of the Vortex and through the void into nothingness." He placed his hands on the console and leaned forward as his mind drifted. "We're in some sort of 'no place', a silent realm…a lost dimension."
"Otherwise known as London." Mickey called over his shoulder; chuckling.
The Doctor's head snapped up to see the young man standing with the door slightly ajar; grinning back at him before exiting the ship. He looked over at Rose who gave him a wide-eyed look as she took his hand and he lead her outside to where Mickey was standing and perusing a newspaper.
"London, Earth. First of February this year." he called out to them; grinning smugly.
"Um, Doctor?" Rose said softly; staring up at the sky in awe.
His eyes followed her gaze and he raised an eyebrow. "So this is London?" The Doctor directed his question towards the younger man.
"Yep." Mickey replied not bothering to look back at him.
"Your city?"
"That's the one."
"Just as we left it?"
"Bang on." He continued to be oblivious to The Doctor's attempts of getting his full attention and Rose shook her head.
Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, The Doctor sighed and pointed out the obvious. "And that includes the Zeppelins?"
Mickey finally looked up from the paper, eyes focusing on The Doctor with a confused expression before drifting up to the sky. "What the hell?" he said; mouth agape.
"This is not your world." The Doctor replied grimly.
"Then where are we?" Rose asked, looking up at him.
"Wait, I know. It's parallel right?" Mickey asked suddenly. "Am I right? I am aren't I?"
"Must be." The Doctor was starting to get a very bad feeling.
Rose was confused. "So…parallel world where...?"
"Oh c'mon." Mickey interrupted. "You've seen it on films; like an alternative to our world where everythin's the same but a lil' bit different like…I dunno…traffic lights are blue, Tony Blair never got elected…"
"And he's still alive." Rose breathed out; eyes fixated on a motion activated advertisement as she began to walk towards it. "Parallel world and my dad's still alive."
The Doctor's gaze followed her own and his face fell. 'Gingerbread house.' he thought to himself and groaned inwardly. In two quick strides he was next to her again. "Rose, don't look at it." he said grasping her shoulders and turning her to look him in the eyes. "This is not your world. He is not your Pete." He grabbed her hand and began pulling her away, walking swiftly back towards the TARDIS with Mickey in tow.
"But Doctor…" she tried to reason when they came back through the doors.
"Rose," he clasped both her hands in his. "I need you to trust me. For all we know he has own Jackie, his own Rose. You can't see him, not ever." Rose nodded slowly; her face falling and he let go of her hands and wrapped her in his arms, resting his head atop hers. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but we can't risk it. But I promise you, we'll figure something out. We'll find a way home." he murmured.
"How'd we even get here in the first place?" Mickey asked, leaning against the railing.
The Doctor let go of Rose and ran a hand over his face. "I dunno…accident. It should have been impossible…" His voice drifted off as he leaned forward focusing his eyes on the grating underneath the Time Rotor. "What's that?"
"What?" Mickey asked, following his eyes.
"That, there." he was pointing now. "Is that a reflection?" Both men moved closer to get a better look.
"It's a light?" The Doctor asked a twinge of hope coloring his voice. "Is it? Is that a light?"
Rose chewed her bottom lip; watching in anticipation as the two men began to pull up the grating.
"I think that's a light. That's all we need." The Doctor was practically giddy now. "We've got power! Hah!" he shouted, jumping down into the open space.
Rose moved to kneel down next to the open hole in the floor as he began tossing up bits of wiring and pieces of circuitry before finally emerging with a glowing green crystal in his hand.
Mickey stared at the item in wonder. "Is that enough power to get us home then?"
"Not yet." The Doctor replied. "I need to charge it up."
"We could go outside and latch it to the National grid." Mickey suggested.
"Wrong sort of energy. Gotta come from our universe."
"But we don't have any of that." Rose reminded him.
"There's me." He wagged his eyebrows at her as he lifted the crystal to his lips and exhaled a deep breath upon it, making the glow increase exponentially. "I just gave away ten years of my life." he grinned. "Worth every second."
"You what!" Rose yelled incredulously.
The Doctor was taken aback momentarily by her outburst and the look of horror on her face. "Rose, it was necessary. I…"
"I can't believe you did that." She stood up and put her hands on her hips. "You're constantly talkin' about how short my life is and here you are jus' givin' yours away?" She crossed her arms tightly across her chest and turned away from him, trying to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.
Mickey extended a hand to The Doctor as he climbed out of the hole. He nodded in thanks handing him the crystal and walked over to Rose; turning her to face him once more.
"Rose," he said softly. "Hey, look at me." He reached up; placing two fingers under her chin and lifted her head so that her eyes would meet his. "I'm sorry, but I had to. It's the only way to get us home."
She nodded. "I know 'S jus'… 'M sorry. I dunno what's wrong with me today. Jus' tired I guess."
He nodded his understanding, giving her a soft smile that she returned before Mickey's voice broke in.
"It's goin' out is that ok?"
"Hmm?" The Doctor turned to look down at the crystal in the young man's hand. "Oh, yeah. It's on a recharging cycle. It'll loop around, power back up and be ready to take us home in…ooh," He turned back to Rose. "Twenty-four hours." He grinned; pulling her into his arms and kissing her breathless.
When he broke the kiss, Rose's mouth remained slightly parted in surprise. It was the first time he had actually displayed that type of affection in front of an audience and as the blush crept up her cheeks, she wasn't quite sure how to react.
Mickey looked away uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "So that gives us twenty-four hours in a parallel world?"
"Shore leave." The Doctor confirmed. "As long as we keep our heads down, no problem."
It seemed to be the universe's day to prove him wrong.
-oOo-
Rose had been exceptionally quiet after they left the parallel world. A few moments after they found a way to get home, her phone had connected to the main cell network. After learning that she didn't exist in that world and finding out that her parallel dad was a major player in the Cybus Industry company that seemed to have control over everything, The Doctor agreed to let her see him; but only incognito. While Mickey set off on his own adventure, The Doctor and Rose were once again thrown into the middle of a sinister plot for world domination involving a nightmare from The Doctor's past in the form of the Cybermen. Together, with a ragtag group consisting of the parallel versions of Rose's dad and Mickey; who went by the name Rickey to The Doctor's amusement; along with his companions, they were able to defeat the Cyber Controller but not without losses on both sides. Within the span of a day, Rose had seen her parallel mother be cyberized, her parallel father reject her when he couldn't handle finding out who she really was and then to top it off she had to say goodbye to Mickey, who chose to stay behind for his Gran, taking Rickey's place in light of his death and helping to continue to take down the cyber factories.
Rose tried her best to get him to reconsider but Mickey explained that now that she had found The Doctor, she no longer needed him and that for the first time in his life, he finally felt he had found a purpose that would allow him to be able to move on. Although Rose understood his decision, finding out she would never be able to see him again just about broke her. All of that added to the fact that she had been under the weather for the last few days had The Doctor extremely worried. She had only allowed him to comfort her for a little while when she came back to the TARDIS and then disappeared to her room saying that she needed to lie down for a little while.
The Doctor hated feeling so helpless. He stood staring blankly at the console as he tried to come up with some way to make her feel better. He thought about making another attempt to go to Kataa Flo Ko but he wasn't sure if she would able to enjoy it as much with her illness looming over her. Her being sick bothered him as well. He wondered if they should maybe make a pit stop to New Earth and pick up a cure. At least that way she could be healthy and then he could work on getting her to smile again. Oh how he loved and adored her smile and he was going to do whatever it took to put it back on her beautiful face.
He looked around the room at the strewn bits and bobs and the upturned grating and rubbed his hands over his face. He was definitely going to have to do some repair work. Maybe he could take Rose to see her mother. He knew Jackie would love a visit and that after everything Rose had been through, it would help to reassure her that her real mother was still alive and well. He and Jackie hadn't really seen eye to eye when they first met; even earning the famous Tyler slap for miscalculating the landing and bringing Rose back home after a year's time instead of the twelve hours he had originally promised, but they had grown closer since his regeneration, more respectful of one another, you might even say more familial. And though he always put on a show of protest whenever Rose wanted to visit her, he was secretly grateful that she had Jackie to turn to in times of crisis.
Since they wouldn't be able to put off telling Jackie about Mickey for long and knowing Rose would want to be the one to tell her, he figured it might be good to take her home for a little while; as long as it was only a little while, and that way he could give them some much needed mother daughter time as well as allowing her to get some additional rest while he did his repairs.
"What do you think old girl, a quick visit to The Powell Estates?" he asked, patting the console.
The TARDIS hummed in agreement. Smiling to himself, he set off to Rose's room to share his idea.
-oOo-
After knocking at her bedroom door for a few minutes and receiving no response, The Doctor tried the doorknob. She never locked it and he usually wasn't the type to knock before entering anyway but after the day she had he wanted to give her any amount of space she needed; even though it was killing him not to have her in his arms.
"Rose?" He poked his head into the room before stepping in fully. The lights were on, but her bed was empty and the door to the ensuite was shut. Thinking she might be taking a bath and as tempted as he was to join her, he decided he would just give her a little more time to herself and come back later. Just as he was about to leave the room, he heard a muffled retching sound.
"Rose?" The Doctor said softly tapping on the door of the ensuite.
"Don't come in here." she groaned.
"Are you ok?"
"Considerin' I jus' watched a replay of 'This is your Life' for everythin' I seem to have eaten in the last week? Yeah, not so much."
"You didn't eat any of that shrimp at the Vitex party did you? I told it you it looked a bit dodgy."
"No… at least I don't think so. I think it might be stomach flu."
The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "We could make a stop at New Earth and pick up an antidote."
"No." she said quickly; followed by a sigh. "Sorry, S' jus'… M' not anxious to step foot back in that hospital anytime soon. I'll be fine. I jus' need some rest and maybe a good cuppa once my stomach settles down."
"Ok, if that's what you want. I was just thinking though. After everything that happened, maybe you might want to see your mom for a bit. I've got some repair work to do on the TARDIS anyway so I figured I could drop you at your mom's and…"
The door opened a crack revealing Rose's flushed face. "You're not gonna leave are you?"
Her tone was so pitiful and she looked extremely pale. As he looked into her eyes, he could see the fear written within them clearly. After everything that had happened, she was terrified he was going to leave her too.
"No." he said firmly looking into her eyes. "I'm not leaving you. I'm going to park the TARDIS where I always do and I figured you could spend some time with your mother while I fix the damage caused by the explosion."
"Alright." she said slowly. "I really do want to see mum."
"It's settled then. We'll go first thing in the morning, but for now I want you to get some rest."
"Ok," she nodded. "I jus' need to get cleaned up a bit first." She retreated back into the ensuite and shut the door.
The Doctor ran his hands through his hair. She looked so pale and small as she stood there talking to him and all he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and reassure her that everything would be alright. He knew that Mickey would always mean a lot to Rose and that she was blaming herself for his departure. While he was onboard, she hadn't wanted to rub their relationship in his face so they had been relatively chaste with one another in his presence; even remaining in separate rooms. 'Maybe it's time that changed.' he mused to himself. It wasn't that he was happy that Mickey was gone; in fact he had kind of grown on him in the last year and though he wouldn't really admit it out loud, he was actually going miss the younger man. But now he would finally be able to have Rose all to himself again and he wasn't going to waste any more time. He consciously made his decision and sat down on her bed to wait.
-oOo-
After she showered and brushed her teeth, Rose changed into a light blue t-shirt and a pair of white sleep shorts and padded back out into the bedroom to find The Doctor still waiting for her.
She quickly replaced her startled look with a smile. "I figured you'd be off tinkerin' by now."
Without a word he got up from the bed walked over and carefully swept her up into his arms.
Rose giggled softly, wrapping her arms around his neck as he began carrying her out of the room. "Where we goin'?"
"Our room." he replied as if it was clearly obvious. The door across from hers opened automatically and he stepped through.
Rose felt her stomach give a joyful flip. "You askin' me to move in with ya?" she smiled; tightening her hold around his neck as she watched his face carefully in anticipation of his response.
"That okay?" he asked, looking into her eyes with sincerity as he walked across the room and gently lowered her onto the bed.
"Yeah." she nodded as he lay down beside her; pulling her into his arms.
"Good." he grinned kissing her softly.
"Yep." she smiled back before snuggling into him further and laying her head against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her and placed another kiss to the top of her head; the steady double beating of his hearts lulling her to sleep quickly. He lay there for a while, just listening to her soft breaths and smiled as a wave of contentment washed over him. Closing his eyes, he found himself drifting off into a peaceful slumber as well.