Chapter 2 – Wounds in Time
Rose Tyler stared at the woman sitting in her living room, perched demurely on the leather sofa, mug of tea in her hand. She was dressed in a simple red skirt and jacket, with an orange blouse underneath, which ought to have clashed with her hair, but instead simply made her skin seem creamy and pale. Her hair glinted like fire in the light from the big arched windows and her sad brown eyes were as guarded and unsure as the Doctor's had been when they first met.
Susan reminded Rose a lot of him. The first him, the one she'd met in the basement of the shop. There was the same inquiring tilt of the head, and the sharp nose, though her ears were small and delicate. She was lean and compact, a smaller, wearier, female version of the man she'd first fallen in love with. It was a little disconcerting.
It was so hard to wrap her mind around the concept. The woman sitting across from her looked about thirty-five or so, certainly she looked older than Rose herself did. She looked to be about the same age as the Doctor, but, she was his granddaughter. Her husband had a grand-daughter.
A thought struck her.
"Does that make me like your … step-grandmother?" Rose cried out in sudden dismay.
Susan turned a puzzled face towards her and shrugged.
"I suppose it does, though if you prefer, I won't call you "Tiza"," she answered and to Rose's irritation, the Doctor laughed aloud.
"Tiza?" she inquired with a glare at her husband.
"Well, it's a bit odd with Time Lords, Rose," he murmured vaguely as he scratched his ear. "With seventeen or twenty generations all living at the same time, you come up with lots of words for relationships that have no translation in English. "Tiza" just means "woman married to your grandfather, who isn't biologically related", as opposed to "Itaza", which means "Woman married to your grandfather, who is a distant cousin as well." There are another half dozen words that cover every permutation of step-grandmother you can think of." He gave her that impish grin that always made her heart skip a beat and she sighed.
"You're having me on," she accused, but without any heat in it and Susan shook her head, her lips twitching with a suppressed smile.
"No, we really do have hundreds of words to deal with various relationships," she informed Rose and then sighed. "Or we did, anyway." Her face fell and Rose suddenly remembered what the two of them had lost. The Doctor winced. This version of him was far less able to hide his emotions than he used to be. She had at first found it disconcerting to deal with, but had quickly come to be grateful for it. The man she'd married never stopped telling her how much he loved her.
"You were going to tell me how you escaped," Rose prompted, changing the subject a bit, trying to spare them both some discomfort and Susan nodded slowly.
"It was Great-Gran who arranged everything, of course," she began with a sad smile on her face. The Doctor's face froze over and Rose knew that he was hiding the pain of memory.
"My mother," he started and then paused, as the effort of speaking became too much for him. "My mother was brilliant. I don't just mean as a person, though she was that too, but as a scientist. She had one of the finest minds on Gallifrey."
"There were those who thought she was as brilliant as Omega, Blenivitch, or Rassilon himself," Susan broke in as the Doctor's voice faded out. "She specialized in temporal physics and had invented several innovations in TARDIS trans-spatial and cross-dimensional processing, in trans-mat neurological cohesion processing, and… so many other things as well." Rose supposed that the slightly blank look she'd given Susan during her recitation had caused her to skip over her great-grandmother's CV a bit.
"She was sort of a Gallifreyan Einstein," the Doctor interjected and Rose nodded her understanding.
"She knew that Rassilon had lost his mind, that he had slid all the way into absolute insanity, especially towards the end, and that he was dragging the rest of us with him, not that it was entirely their fault by that point," Susan temporized. Rose frowned and the Doctor took up the thread again. He was sitting in an end chair, directly between Rose's chair and Susan on the couch, staring into the fireplace as he spoke, rather than looking at either one of them.
"My people are telepathic, Rose. We are linked to each other, and so when one of us dies, the rest of us feel it," he hesitated, trying to find words, hands twisting together as he struggled with the memories of the past.
"We are diminished," Susan explained and Rose tried to imagine what it must have been like for these nearly immortal people to suffer the attrition of war. To feel every death personally and intimately must have been appalling.
"As we lost people, the rest of us began to feel the effects of it. It was like having bits of you lopped off, because we are used to having each other's presence in our minds, and as people died, we lost that part of ourselves. Then there was the fact that, as timelines started to collapse, many of us experienced death dozens, if not hundreds of times, only to come back to life with multiple memories of the same events. We started to go mad," The Doctor continued his voice strained but steady.
"Not you though!" Rose interjected. Her imagination was trying to shy away from everything he was implying, yet she wasn't able to close her mind to it all.
"Yes, Rose, even me," he contradicted and she blinked at him in shock. Susan nodded in confirmation.
"Had we not been travelers before, used to being away from our people for long periods of time, it would have been far worse, but even so, the madness was like a virus. One of us would start to sicken and pass it on to all those closest to them, who would undermine the mental health of everyone close to them and so on. By the end, there were very few of us able to think clearly at all." Susan's voice trembled as she spoke and Rose could see the anguish behind her unruffled exterior, the horror of watching your whole race go mad and wondering when and if you would too.
"But the Doctor's mum, she saved you?" Rose tried again to turn their minds away from the darkness and Susan shot her a grateful smile.
"Yes, she was already preparing an escape even before the Time Lock was put in place." The Doctor stared at her in shock and Susan shook her head sadly. "You had already been called to the High Council, she couldn't risk that they might read your mind and find out," she explained and he nodded his understanding, even though she could see he didn't find the truth palatable.
"The problem was that the Time Lock closed before we were ready and we did honestly think we were doomed," she continued, her eyes showing the horror and terror of that time, even as her voice stayed cool. "It wasn't until the Master escaped that we had a way out." She grimaced. "We owe him our lives, even if it was unintentional on his part."
"He's gone now anyway, he was shot by his wife and refused to regenerate," the Doctor consoled her and again there was an expression of mixed emotions on Susan's face, as though she couldn't decide if it was good or bad that he was dead.
"Wait." Rose looked at the two faces that turned to her with identical expressions of inquiry. "You said "we"."
"Told you she was brilliant!" the Doctor bragged with a smug expression and Susan smiled softly in reply.
"Yes, Rose, "we"." She took a deep breath. "There were about twenty of us that Great-Gran snuck out. She put us through the Chameleon Arch and then tossed us out into the universe. Each one of us was wrapped in our own little Void ship lifeboat, memories gone, in cryogenic sleep, seemingly human in every respect, and therefore unnoticeable by the High Council's patrols." Rose nodded. She remembered the stories the Doctor had told her about the Chameleon Arch and its effects. "We drifted until we were caught in a planetary gravitational field and were awakened by touchdown. I guess she also shunted us into another universe as well. I don't know if Great-Gran chose the worlds we ended up on. She was unable to tell us much about her plans, since she had to keep wiping her own memories every few days."
"Excuse me?" Rose asked in sudden horror.
"Telepathic race, Rose," the Doctor reminded her and his voice was both gentle and angry at the same time. She could feel his love and anger battling each other in his soul. Susan leaned over and laid a hand on his and her look of sympathy and understanding seemed to still his emotions somehow.
Rose wasn't sure if she was jealous just then or not. A granddaughter was hardly a romantic rival, but the hundreds of years they must have shared together seemed to suddenly weigh on her. Even if the Doctor and she lived out the rest of their lives together, it was still but a fraction of his span of years. There was something horribly sad about that. They ought to have had centuries together. It wasn't fair.
"So, where are all the rest then?" Rose asked, changing the subject to something more hopeful.
"Scattered through time and space, no doubt," Susan answered with a small shrug.
"There's no way to even begin looking for them," the Doctor sighed out. "Not without a TARDIS."
"Well, I admit that it's not a lovely old type 40, like you're used to, but I do happen to have a nice little type 90 that Great Gran gave me, will that do?" Susan asked with a little smile that was identical to one Rose had often seen on her grandfather's face.
"What?" the Doctor asked in shock.
"I have a TARDIS, grandfather," she repeated and he stared at her with a jumble of emotions on his face. "I hadn't expected it to work in this universe, but Great Gran had made amazing strides in multi-universal compatibility and, despite some rough bits, it works quite well, actually…" she trailed off as she realized that he was not exactly joyful at her news.
"What? Oh," the Doctor murmured. Rose watched his face carefully, seeing the conflicting emotions running through him. "You see, I had decided to retire, stay here, have kids, grow old and die on the slow path, with Rose. I wasn't planning on travelling again."
Susan gave him a long look and then leaned back, crossing her legs and shrugging. Her face was partially hidden in shadow, as evening was coming on and the light was failing, but Rose could sense the care with which she was composing herself.
"Not a problem, I understand. You have a wife, a job, and all sorts of responsibilities. Of course you oughtn't to come with me. It would be quite irresponsible of you, after all" she agreed and Rose watched the Doctor squirm as she spoke. "I can do this myself, it's all right. I doubt it will be difficult," she informed him, while studying her nails. "I thought I'd start by scanning the Magellanic Cluster." She looked up at him in bored inquiry and Rose hid her smile behind her hand.
"Don't be ridiculous, there is no way that mother would hide someone there, simply too few worlds of limited advancement there!" the Doctor insisted and Rose's hidden smile grew broader. She knew exactly what Susan was doing and she heartily approved. "She'd never drop them onto planets with a high tech base, too easy for them to be detected early on!"
"Well, I don't know, grandfather, I don't have any better ideas! Where would you suggest I look?" she asked in apparent exasperation, though Rose glimpsed a twinkle in her eye, as she leaned forward, allowing the light from the fireplace to illuminate her features.
"We should start here, obviously, on Earth! Mother knew I loved this place, she teased me about it all the time," he grumbled and Susan nodded with a look of dawning comprehension in her eyes that Rose suspected was part of the act. The affection though, she could tell was not feigned. She really loved her grandfather; that much was quite obvious.
"Doctor, we can't just leave Susan to stumble about all on her own!" Rose decided it was time for her to do a little pushing as well. No reason to make Susan do all the work, after all.
"But Rose, I promised your mother, no more adventuring, no putting you in danger! Even Pete agreed," he protested and Rose grinned at him and shook her head in mock disbelief, blonde ponytail bobbing and blue eyes crinkled with amusement.
"You? Hen pecked by your mother in law?" she teased and he groaned aloud. "Donna would laugh at you so hard!" Susan looked at her in surprise and then smiled.
"Oi! Your mother is the most terrifying creature I have ever encountered!" he shot back and Susan laughed aloud at his affronted expression.
"She'll get over it!" Rose insisted.
"Besides, grandfather, my TARDIS actually works; we'll be back before she knows we've gone!" Susan waved away the rest of his arguments with a conspiratorial smile that Rose knew all too well. Mischief definitely ran in the family.
"Oi! My TARDIS worked just fine!" the Doctor shot back, but his resolve was obviously weakening. Susan rolled her eyes at Rose and then both women dissolved into laughter. "Oi! Don't you say anything bad about my girl!" he continued and from the way his lips were twitching and his eyes were brightening, Rose knew that he'd already given in.
They were going off on another adventure and she was thrilled.
"Yes, your TARDIS worked fine, once you figured out how to fly it" Susan retorted.
"Wait? He didn't know how to fly it?" Rose asked with a grin.
"No, Grandfather just stole the first one that was unlocked and went, hadn't the slightest idea how to make it go!" Susan confided and Rose threw her head back and howled with laughter.
"He stole it! That is so like him! No respect for personal property that one!"
"Though I must call Donna and Wilf, Grandfather, to let them know that I'm okay," Susan grimaced and chewed on her thumb. "How am I supposed to explain all this to them?" she sighed.
"Well, my Donna took a bit of a nudge, but got to a point where she took it all in stride, while Wilf never seemed to have a problem with any of it. Born astronaut that man," the Doctor informed her and Susan nodded.
"You mean you've met them here?" Rose asked with a smile. "That's amazing!"
"I was working at HC Clements and Donna and I became fast friends. She was a bit overwhelming at first, but she's my best mate these days. I was rather tickled to find out she was Grandfather's friend as well."
"Well, my best mate in the other universe, this one doesn't know me from Adam," he corrected.
"Then we should fix that," Rose announced.
Susan was nervous. Donna and Wilf were her only friends in this universe and she was scared that they might not want to be friends with her once they knew she was an alien.
The Doctor was driving however, so Susan was too busy clinging to the car and praying to every deity she could think of to fret too much about it.
The black Bugatti Galibier was a lovely little sedan and Susan knew that Grandfather's obsession with vehicles was being fed by it, since he hadn't had a TARDIS to dash about it, but she could have hoped for something a little less speedy and a whole lot more sedate just then.
They pulled up in front of Wilf and Donna's house and the Doctor sighed.
"I admit that I am not looking forward to having to deal with Sylvia," he grumbled and Susan winced.
"You won't have to. She and Geoff went through cyber-conversion and then died," she informed him and they both turned to stare at her in shock.
"Oh God," Rose whispered and the Doctor looked slightly ill.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered and she shook her head.
"That was the night I opened my watch, but I was so weak from the conversion I was too late to save them," she murmured.
"Susan!" Donna's loud and happy voice rang out and Susan climbed out of the car to run and give her friend a hug. Wilf charged out after her and he also was enfolded.
"Are you alright, Susie?" Wilf was asking, even as Donna was talking a mile a minute.
"Those idiots! Like we'd believe that you'd contracted some rare disease!" Donna sneered at the Torchwood cover story. "How many diseases make you glow! I mean really!"
"I'm fine now, Wilf, thank you. There are some people I'd like you to meet, though," she told them, waving her grandfather and Rose forward. "This is the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler," she introduced them and Donna squealed.
"I know who Rose Tyler is, Susan! Pete and Jackie's long lost daughter! I read all about you in the Sun! I saw the TV movie three times!" she told them with a broad smile. "Oh, do come in! Susan, you never told me that you knew Rose Tyler!"
"I didn't before today, but I've known the Doctor all my life," she replied with a grin and Grandfather returned it as they went inside.
It was weird, the Doctor thought to himself. The house without Sylvia was so empty. It looked the same, a few rearranged bits of furniture, a few knick knacks missing, or replaced with different things, but still it was the essential Noble house in all its suburban glory.
"You two got married pretty quick didn't you?" Donna was chatting at Rose, while the two women fixed tea and the Doctor was amused by the slightly glazed look on his wife's face as she was finally exposed to the full Donna Noble experience.
"Well, not really, we'd actually known each other for four years, on and off, but it wasn't until the vacation in Norway that we were finally able to tell each other how we felt, after that, it just seemed silly to wait," Rose told her and he admired how smoothly she did it. He still had trouble remembering the slightly edited tale of their relationship sometimes.
"That's so romantic," Donna told her with a dreamy smile. "So how do you know Susan?" she asked the Doctor and he grinned broadly.
"She's my granddaughter," he answered and Wilf dropped his tea cup with a clatter.
"What? Were you married to her grandmother, like a step grandfather?" Donna asked.
"No, it's a little more complicated," Susan broke in, with a repressive frown at him. "Wilf, Donna, I should have told you a while back, but I'm an alien."
"Oh that! We figured that out ages ago!" Donna assured her with a wave of her hand. "I mean really, you know like every language on Earth, can explain about the genetic makeup of hamsters, you knew Jenny Lind's baby was going to be a boy before her doctor did, and at the hospital the Doctor was freaking out because you had two hearts! It was fairly obvious, Martian Girl!" the Doctor threw his head back and laughed aloud.
"And here you were worried that they wouldn't like you anymore!" he gasped out. Susan's face was utterly flabbergasted and then she smiled and turned her head slightly to hide the tears starting to well up in her eyes. "They already knew!"
"Well, then," she murmured, speechless, and Wilf cocked his head at the Doctor.
"So, you're an alien too?" he asked and the Doctor shrugged.
"Well…" he drawled. "That is a really long, really complicated story, that probably would need diagrams, charts, and at least three pots of tea to get through, but the short answer comes down to, 'about half'," he answered, scrubbing at his head as he tried to ease into the explanation.
"All right Martian Boy." Donna advanced on him, tea cup in hand. "Now give us the long version, Gramps has paper, so we can certainly do the diagrams and charts, if needed!" He grinned at her, so happy to be called "Martian Boy" by her again that he didn't care how many pots of tea this would take.
In the end it actually took four pots, and the floor was covered with stick figure cartoons, diagrams with arrows, and five people laughing and building a friendship.