The Doctor went on a few trips after his visit to Earth, trying to keep Rose Tyler out of his mind; but seeing as he knew she was part of his future, the job of not thinking about her became infinitely more difficult. Every flash of blonde hair was her, every accent that sounded even slightly London-ish was her. It was driving him mad, this constant looking to see if she was actually there; especially since he knew she wouldn't be around for this regeneration. So long as he was leather-clad and large eared, he would not be seeing one Rose Tyler, and he just needed to accept that.
That's what he told himself every time a flash of blonde made him go running.
He tried to distract himself by going to see the end of the Earth, but all that did was make him think 'Somewhere down there is Rose Tyler's skeleton.' Not exactly a cheery thought. He did stop a bit of stretched skin (who had somehow deluded herself into thinking she was still human, the nutter) from blowing up the observation deck and killing those who had come to watch the Earth burn. He lost a friend in the process, though.
So then he tried going to Naples, 1860, but somehow ended up in Cardiff, 1869 (Something must've been wrong with the TARDIS targeting system; there was no way it was his driving. No way.). It wasn't a complete bust; he did get to meet Charles Dickens, something he'd wanted to do for ages. Of course, then the Gelth had showed up and mucked everything up. And Gwyneth, sweet girl, had died.
It seemed everywhere he went lately, someone died. He tried not to dwell on it overmuch, told himself that more people would have died if he hadn't shown up, but still…three trips, three deaths. And that was without even including the Time War…
But now he was going to Woman Wept; the planet was completely uninhabited, so there was no possible way he could get someone killed.
Well, that was the plan, anyway.
When he stepped out of the TARDIS, instead of being greeted by the white, grey, and sea green landscape of Woman Wept, he instead saw the grey concrete mass that was 21st century London. He scowled, and glared at his beloved ship. "That's it. I'm taking apart your navigation system circuit by circuit until I figure out what's wrong with you," he informed the innocent looking box.
"Doctor?"
The Doctor spun quickly, thinking he recognized the voice. Of course, half-pivot he reminded himself that it couldn't possibly be Rose Tyler.
Except it was. Standing before him, in all her pink and yellow glory, was one Rose Tyler of Earth. "Oh," he said, surprised by her very existence. "Hello!" His voice more cheerful this time, a rare smile spreading across his face.
She smiled hesitantly. "What are you doing here?" She asked curiously, both hands clutching her bag. Her knuckles where white, he noted, like she was trying to squeeze the life from the straps of her innocent handbag.
He shrugged, and reached behind him to knock on the TARDIS. "Navigation system's gone screwy; keeps sending me to the wrong place."
"The TARDIS never goes but where she is meant to be," Rose muttered under her breath.
"Sorry, what was that?" The Doctor asked, frowning. He'd heard her, of course; he meant for her to elaborate.
She only shook her head. "Nothing."
The Doctor thrust his hands in his pockets and tried to think: he wanted to talk to her, ask her questions about their time together. But he couldn't talk to her because she was his future and he honestly probably already knew too much. Just knowing her name and what she looked like might've been too much (but judging by the fact that the annoying tingle that accompanied impending paradoxes wasn't around, he was pretty sure he was safe). There was, of course, the easy way out: if he just opened his temporal third eye, opened the senses he'd dulled in his attempts to forget that he was the last of his kind, if he looked at her timeline, he would know what was safe and what wasn't.
And it was so tempting to do just that.
But he also knew that if he started peeking at her timeline, he'd want more answers, and would look farther into her timeline; that could also be very bad.
In short, she was a puzzle that could only be solved through patience; and the Doctor was terrible with patience.
She was looking at him strangely, now (something she did quite a lot of, in the Doctor's opinion), and the Doctor realized he'd been staring at her for a few minutes as he'd tried to puzzle her out. He quickly averted his eyes, raising one hand to rub across his cropped hair. "So…" he started, realizing he had absolutely no clue what to say.
"I should probably be going…work, and all," Rose said quietly, moving to step around him.
"Oh. Right. 'Course. Be seeing you, then," he said lamely, trying to cover his disappointment.
Her answering smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and the Doctor remembered belatedly that there was every possibility that she would never see him again. He suppressed the urge to hit himself in the forehead, and settled for mentally calling himself a git, and wondering why he couldn't help but put his foot in his mouth every time he talked to her.
He watched her as she walked around him and continued down the sidewalk, before forcing himself to turn away and walk back into the TARDIS.
He'd just opened the door when a loud wooshing noise, accompanied by the screams of pedestrians, caught his attention. He looked up to find the source of the noise just in enough time to see a spaceship crash into Big Ben, then go flying off into the Thames.
An alien spaceship. In London.
Fantastic!
'Keep walking, keep walking, keep walking…' was Rose Tyler's mantra as she walked down the street. As much as she wanted to stay with the Doctor (the Doctor that was not her Doctor but some day would be her Doctor), she knew she couldn't; knew she couldn't risk the timelines like that. She knew she had to let him leave so that he would find her one day, travel with her, then get her stuck here. One big cycle, that was how it had to be.
Sometimes she wondered if it would have been better if he never found her.
But no, she wouldn't give up one second of the time they'd spent together, no matter how short. The Doctor was her best friend, had been with her through so much…She'd learned to understand the universe while traveling with him and she was a better…person…for it.
But walking away from him, even this new (old?) him, hurt. She wanted nothing more than to run back to him, launch herself into his arms, and demand he show her the stars.
So when the Thames suddenly became the new parking spot for one crash landing spaceship, she had to work very hard not to take it as a sign that she was meant to have another adventure with the Doctor.
'It's just a coincidence. Nothing more. Spaceship on Earth. Landing within eyesight of both of us. On the first day in a year that he's been on Earth. When he just so happened to land right in front of me on the one day that I'm late to work. Total coincidence.' With a groan at her own failures in self-control, she turned to go back to him, only to find he was already standing behind her.
"Care to investigate?" He grinned.
She smiled reluctantly back, and prayed that it would be a small adventure that wouldn't end in a paradox.
Though, honestly, the adventure was lacking in adventure.
The entire city was so completely deadlocked, that they were unable to even get near the crash site. They couldn't even use the TARDIS (which was probably a good thing, as Rose was fairly certain if she went in there again, she'd refuse to come out) since they didn't want to shove another spaceship right under the nose of the government, given the current state of things.
So, after much pacing and grumbling on the part of the Doctor, Rose suggested they do what most people did: watch it on television. The Doctor didn't seem pleased, but it was basically their only available course of action at this point.
Rose led him to her flat, mentally going through a list of her belongings, making sure nothing would tip him off to their future or her origins. Luckily, Rose was a bit of minimalist when it came to nostalgia.
She tossed her keys into a bowl by the door, and motioned for the Doctor to make himself at home. He made a bee-line for the television, while Rose popped into the kitchen to put on some tea.
"You can afford this place on a shop girl's salary?" He called from the other room. Always tactful, him. Ah, well; her flat was a bit large for an average shop girl, she supposed.
"Nope," she answered as she walked in with the tea. She handed him his and sat on the opposite end of the couch. "But I'm on, ah, good terms with the ATM." She shrugged with a small smile.
The Doctor chuckled. "So why bother even working, then? 'Specially at a shop."
"Oi, don't knock it! And I needed a job, if only to keep myself from going insane. 'Sides, I work at a café, now. Somebody blew up my last job," she glared at him, though there was no real heat behind it.
He shrugged it off. "It was necessary. But why go for such simple jobs? You're obviously clever; why not find something more challenging?"
Rose glanced away, and grabbed the remote, flicking the television to the news channel. Luckily, that seemed to distract the Doctor for the moment, as the coverage of the crash was on. There were many reasons she didn't get a more "challenging" job, the least of which was because she didn't have any A-levels; or any schooling, really. Of course, that wasn't anything she couldn't find a way around; forging documents was really too easy.
No, the main reason was that it was 2005, and the Earth would be changing rapidly in the next few years. There was Torchwood and U.N.I.T. and invasions of all shapes and sizes. Not to mention the Master (though, of course, much of the Master's reign would be wiped from history). Rose needed to keep a low profile for a while, and nobody ever noticed a shop girl or a waitress.
The coverage of the crash was mostly useless, as it was mainly speculation and Armageddon talk. Just as they were getting frustrated, however, the news reporter kindly informed them that a body had been recovered from the wreckage and taken to Albion Hospital. Which was also completely incased in gridlock. However, by this point, they were both so completely frustrated with the inactivity (it made Rose wonder how she'd managed to live like a human up to this point), that they decided taking the TARDIS was worth the risk.
"Don't think I didn't notice how you dodged the question earlier," the Doctor said seriously as they walked along. "You're keeping secrets from me. I hate secrets." Rose started to protest, but the Doctor flapped his hand at her. "Yes, yes, I know. You're from my future, you have to keep secrets. Doesn't mean I like it. Or that I trust you," he added, glancing at her.
Rose frowned. The trust comment hurt a lot more than it should; but she tried to shake it off. "You obviously trust me some; you're bringing me along," she said, trying to keep her tone light.
The Doctor smiled without looking at her. "Only because I've already figured out you would have shown up there whether I brought you or not."
'Hello again, Red,' Rose said telepathically to the TARDIS as she entered, running her fingers along a coral column as the Doctor strode over to the console.
'Hello, Wolf,' the TARDIS responded, obviously pleased.
Rose smiled faintly, keeping her eyes on the Doctor as he steered the TARDIS. 'Why did you bring him to me again? You know we shouldn't be seeing each other; I'm a part of his future, we shouldn't be interacting in his past.'
The TARDIS somehow managed to convey a scoff into Rose's mind, making her raise an eyebrow. 'You pay as little attention as my Thief, Wolf. Open that eye, and have a look.'
Rose frowned; she hated when the TARDIS was cryptic.
"Off we pop, then!" The Doctor called, grabbing her hand as he ran past and dragging her off the ship. Their exit is a bit delayed because the Doctor (of course) parked them in a rubbish closet, and they had to push past boxes to even leave the TARDIS. On top of that, the door was locked, and they spent the next few seconds unlocking it.
"Can't ever do it the easy way, can you?" Rose muttered.
"Hush you."
The door clicked open. "There, see, absolutely no—" the Doctor stoped as he opened the door into a room filled with soldiers. "problem," he finished, frowning. The soldiers leapt to their feet, and pointed their guns at the Doctor and Rose.
Rose sighed. She'd so been hoping not to get arrested on this one; might reflect poorly on her record if her employers ever checked. Ah, well; nothing a little hacking couldn't fix.
A scream from down a hall made them all jump. "Defense plan delta, c'mon!" Rose shouted, and took off running towards the scream, the bewildered Doctor and soldiers following behind her. They burst into a dark lab to find a shaking woman on the ground.
"It's alive!" She sobed.
Rose went to comfort and question the woman. "Spread out; tell the perimeter we're on lockdown," the Doctor ordered behind her, then came to join her.
"Do it!" Rose snapped, turning her head to glare at the stationary soldiers. They immediately sprang into action, running from the room.
"Impressive," the Doctor muttered.
"Hush," she responded, eyes on the woman on the floor.
"I swear it was dead!" The woman cried, looking between the Doctor and Rose.
"Coma, shock, hibernation, anything," the Doctor shrugged.
"What does it look like?" Rose asked gently. A clattering noise made them all jump, and look behind them. "It's still here!"
Rose and the Doctor glanced at each other, and the Doctor started crawling towards the desk. Rose stayed back, watching in case the alien decided to run. She watched as the Doctor disappeared behind the desk, and rolled her eyes when she heard his voice a moment later say "Hello!" Honestly, that man would greet just about anything.
She jumped to her feet, though, when she heard a squealing noise, followed by the sudden appearance of what appeared to be a big in a space suit. A soldier that was still in the room raised his gun. "No!" Rose shouted, shoving the soldier aside, but letting the alien-pig-thing run past in the process.
The Doctor ran after it, Rose following. They'd only just made it into the hallway when they heard the gunshot. The pig was dying when they got to the hall. "What'd you do that for?" The Doctor snapped. "It was scared!"
Rose knelt by the pig, stroking it's snout as it died. "Get out. Resume protection of the perimeter," she commanded quietly, then glared until all the soldiers left. "Help me get him back to the mortuary?" She asked the Doctor, looking up at him. He nodded, and they carried the dead pig back.
The woman, a doctor, came over. "Is it really dead this time?" She asked hesitantly. Rose glared, but the Doctor nodded.
"Yeah, poor thing. Probably didn't even know what was going on. One minute he was on a farm, next thing you know someone's been messing with his brain and body and now he's this," the Doctor said sadly.
The woman blinked. "I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth?"
Rose sighed. "More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke."
The woman kept talking, but Rose and the Doctor slipped away to the TARDIS while she wasn't paying attention. "You alright?" The Doctor asked, glancing at her as he lifted the grating that led to the wires of the TARDIS.
"Yeah, fine. Just feel bad for that poor animal; shoved into a body he doesn't understand…" Rose trailed off, her thoughts far away, before she shook her head and went over to look down at the Doctor. He was lying flat on his back, screwdriver in his mouth as he fiddled with the wires. "Need some help?"
The Doctor removed the screwdriver from his mouth before looking at her skeptically. "You really think you're qualified to work on the TARDIS?" His tone was dripping sarcasm, and only served to annoy her.
"Budge over," she said in a not-so-happy tone, swinging her legs into the hole before dropping down. She lay down next to the Doctor and peered up at the tangle of wires above them. "What exactly are you trying to do?" She asked.
"I need to patch in the radar, then loop it back twelve hours," the Doctor said, and Rose could practically feel his eyes on her.
"Got it," she said, hands reaching up confidently. She pulled and pushed and reattached and stole his sonic to finish the whole thing up. "Done!" She said triumphantly a few minutes later.
"What are you?" The Doctor said, apparently astonished.
Rose smiled impishly. "I'm everything you never thought possible." And with that, she hoisted herself back up to the main deck of the TARDIS, the Doctor following behind her. They went to the monitor, and the Doctor hit a few buttons. They watched quietly as the trajectory of the ship played before them.
"But that's…" Rose started, trailing off as the truth hit her.
"Yep. The ship originated on Earth. And I want a closer look at it. Have you got a car?" He asked suddenly.
"What? Oh, no. But I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't notice if we, er, borrowed one," Rose shrugged.
The Doctor grinned. "Hold on, then!" He took them back to Rose's neighborhood, and, once again, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the doors of the TARDIS. Rose smiled slightly, and wondered if all of his regenerations where this fond of hand holding.
They ran outside, and right into a spotlight from a helicopter. "Never easy," Rose sighed, automatically putting her hands in the air as police closed in on them.
"But where's the fun in easy?" The Doctor grinned, before addressing the police. "Take me to your leader!"
Rose kicked him.
"I get the feeling we're not being arrested," Rose observed once they were in the police car and on their way to…wherever it was they were going.
"Nope. We're being recruited," the Doctor said cheerfully.
"Lovely. Who by?"
"UNIT, mainly. They'll be gathering the world's foremost alien experts, and I just happen to top that list," he added smugly.
Rose groaned. "Fantastic," she muttered. UNIT; just the people she was hoping to avoid. Ah, well. She hadn't made a name for herself in their timeline yet, so it should be fine; besides: their attention would be focused on the alien and the Doctor (who would undoubtedly put on a show for them). She could just sit quietly in the shadows.
The Doctor was frowning at her again, giving Rose the look she recognized as his "I-can't-figure-you-out-and-it-bugs-me" look. Well, good. After all the times he'd left her confused when she first met him, this was payback.
They pulled up to Downing Street, and made their way up to the front door (the Doctor making faces for the cameras, of course) and inside. A man who looked in charge was rounding everyone up and reminding everyone to where their I.D. tags. "Here's yours," he said, coming over to them and handing a tag to the Doctor. "Your companion doesn't have clearance, sorry."
"I don't go anywhere without her," the Doctor stated.
Rose snorted. "That's a lie," she muttered, earning a glare from the Doctor.
"You're the code nine, not her. I'm sorry Doctor, it is Doctor, right? She'll have to stay outside," the man said apologetically, though brusquely.
"Just go," Rose said, interrupting the Doctor before he could protest further. She had her eye on an older woman who was trying to get people to listen to her, anyway. "I'll be fine!" She added cheerfully.
The Doctor stared at her for a moment, before nodding. "Stay out of trouble," he called as he started into the room with the other "experts."
"Doubtful!" Rose called after him.
"I'm going to have to leave you with security," he apologized.
"Oh, I'm sure Harriet here can take me, can't you, Harriet?" Rose said lightly, grabbing a hold of the passing woman's arm.
"Wha—" the woman, Harriet, started, but Rose leaned a little closer to her.
"I can help. Go with it," she muttered so that the man couldn't hear.
"Oh, um, yes, of course," Harriet said, a bit unconvincingly.
The man hesitated, the nodded. "Fine," he said, and walked away.
"Just start walking," Rose instructed quietly, looping her arm around Harriet's.
"Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North," Harriet said, flashing her I.D. at Rose.
Rose smiled to herself; some things never changed. "Yes, I know who you are. I'm Rose Tyler, I travel with the Doctor. Now tell me, what's going on that you've noticed that no one else has?" She asked, glancing at the bewildered woman.
"How did-?" She started, shocked.
Rose smiled tiredly. "You've always been much more observant than anyone has ever given you credit for."
Harriet stared at her for a moment. "Have we met?" She asked, finally.
Rose laughed, a hollow sound. "That is a very simple question with a very, very complicated answer."
Harriet hesitated, but a quiet sob escaped her. She led Rose to the Cabinet Room, which was blessedly empty. Harriet quickly told Rose of all she'd seen that day while hiding in a closet. "They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!" She cried, slightly hysterical by this point.
"It's alright, I believe you. Definitely alien, though I'm not sure which…they must have some serious tech behind this. If we can find it, we can use it. Start searching," Rose ordered, and began going through the drawers in the room. She pulled a cupboard open, and a man's body fell out. The Prime Minister; oh, that would be her luck.
"Oh, that is not good," Rose muttered.
The man from before burst in then, making both Rose and Harriet whirl to face him. "Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander—Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!" The man went white, and Rose wondered idly if he was going to be sick.
The door was pushed open again, and Rose made a mental note to lock it before the whole building found out about the Prime Minister and decided Rose and Harriet where assassins.
A woman walked in, someone Rose vaguely recognized from the telly. Margret something or other. "Oh! Has someone been naughty?" Margret asked, an evil smirk crossing her features. Rose suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and edged closer to Harriet, putting the other woman slightly behind her.
"That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!" The man continued, still very shocked it seemed.
"And who told you that, hm?" Margret asked in a patronizing voice. "Me." She reached up to her hairline, and a bright blue light suddenly filled the room.
"Back, back! Get back from her!" Rose yelled, pushing Harriet to the far wall. Margret was pulling a zipper down, making her human appearance fall aside, and revealing the very alien creature that lay beneath.
'So much for staying out of trouble.'
And So ends chapter 2. Hello everyone! I've had the pleasure of hearing from some of you on my last story, but some of you are new, too. Hello!
What do you guys think of Rose so far? Any theories? I'd love to hear them!
Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, or reviewed!
Until next time!