CHAPTER 2
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and the song Moonlight Serenade do not belong to me and I am making no profit off of this.
Was anyone surprised as to the identity of the White Guardian? I hope so. Even if you weren't, I hope that you liked it. Here is Chapter 2 as Rose sends her new recruits on the way to get the first segment of the Key To Time.
Rose, still disguised as the White Guardian, watched silently as the Doctor and Jenny began to catch up with each other. The Doctor was telling Jenny about regeneration being the reason why he had a new face, and Jenny was telling him about what she had been doing while she had been travelling the universe looking for him. The Doctor looked proud and impressed as Jenny recounted many of her adventures to him.
Amy stood off to the side watching them with a look on her face that was a mixture of happiness and sorrow. She was happy for the Doctor that he had found Jenny after all of this time. She really was happy for him, but she was also jealous of him. He had a daughter who he could travel with, talk to, and who could have a normal relationship with him. Amy, on the other hand, had a daughter who only showed up for short periods of time, and then had to leave and go back to Stormcage. River was always out of synch with Amy and she never knew if the River that she met was from the future or the past. Amy might discuss something with her on one trip, and then River would not have even had the discussion with her yet in her personal timeline the next time that Amy saw her. It was very frustrating sometimes to not have a normal relationship with her. She could only imagine how the Doctor felt to have a regularly absent wife. She would never have a normal relationship with her child, and it was really starting to get to her. It especially got to her lately as she knew for sure that she was not going to have any more children. That had been one of the reasons behind her recent insomnia. This was it for her role as a mother. She had had one child and had missed her entire life. Sure she had grown up with her as Mels but she didn't know who she was then, and it was in no way the same as raising her as a mother. She sighed a depressed sigh.
Amy's sudden depression was unnoticed by the Doctor and Jenny. Rose, however, picked up on it right away. She had always had a sixth sense for when someone was upset and needed comforting even before she had become the Bad Wolf or the White Guardian. Rose walked quietly over to Amy and stood next to her. She was still new to her powers and unused to using them, but she had learned how to look at someone's timeline. She now looked at Amy's timeline and saw her past, present, and future.
Rose could see Amy's relationship with River and how complicated it was from the beginning to today. Now, she saw what was bothering the Scottish girl. She placed a comforting hand on Amy's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry that you didn't get to have a regular relationship with your daughter but you should know that one day you will be a mother again. I hope that that is some consolation for you."
Amy looked at her in shock and said, "How do you know all of that? Are you sure about that?"
Rose could see that she had upset Amy even more and was immediately regretful that she had said anything. "I can see a person's timeline when I want. I see all of the past, present, and their possible futures. The way your future is going it looks pretty certain that you will end up a mother again someday. I can't say that with a 100% accuracy because time can always be rewritten, but odds are that what I told you will come to pass. Time is a tricky business. It's all wibbly wobbly after all," Rose said as she tried to undo any further damage that she had done.
Amy began to smile a wide smile. It was the first real smile that she had had in a long time. She didn't know why she believed the Guardian but she did. Amy was full of joy! She was going to be a mother again someday. Maybe this time she would get it right.
The Doctor watched this conversation with a growing look of trust and appreciation on his face. He hadn't known exactly what had been bothering Amy lately, but he knew that she had been very depressed. He was now very glad to finally see a real smile on her face.
"Thank you! You seem to have the magic touch. You know what to say to make people feel better. You remind me of someone else I used to know who always made everything brighter for me no matter how bad it got. I lost her a long time ago. I'll always regret not telling her how I really felt. Maybe it's for the best though. I'm sure she's better off without me. I ruin everyone's life eventually if I stay around them long enough," The Doctor said to the White Guardian with a touch of melancholy.
"You always do this. You always blame yourself for things that aren't your fault. You need to stop doing this. You also need to start letting people in and let them help you with your burdens. You have got to start letting those you care about know how you feel about them. You would be surprised how much better it would be for you if you relied upon your friends more than you do. How about actually letting people know what's going on once in a while instead of keeping it all to yourself until the end," Rose told him.
"He's always doing that. It is so annoying! He just does it to show off how clever he is to everyone," Amy said with a grin. She was really starting to like the Guardian. She had started to think of her as a friend.
"Figured that out, have you? He's always trying to show off for people. He craves the attention. I think that he would have really loved being an actor. You should go on television, Doctor. Then, the whole world could bask in your brilliance!" Rose teased him.
"Me on television?! No one would want to see that! It would be cancelled in a week!" The Doctor said with a derisive snort.
"Oh, I don't know! You might be surprised!" Rose said with a knowing smile on her face that the Doctor couldn't see. She had knowledge about all parallel worlds now, and it had really surprised her when she had found out that in one world that their lives were on a TV show.
Rose sensed that time was growing short and as enjoyable as talking with the Doctor again had been she knew that she had to get down to business. "The three of you will have to start looking for the first segment of the Key now. I'm sure that the Black Guardian has already sent someone on the way to find it. You'll need this to find the segment," She said as she handed the Doctor a tracer.
The Doctor took the long wand like object, and explained to Amy, "This is a tracer. It emits a noise that gets louder the closer that we are to a segment. It lets us track the segments down. The segments will be disguised as something else and when we touch them with the tracer they will be revealed for what they truly are. I just have to put the tracer in the TARDIS, and we will be transported to their general area. They could be anywhere in time and space so this device is the only thing that will enable us to find them."
Amy looked at him surprised. "You've done this before, then?"
"Yes. I did this once before a long time ago. I found the segments and assembled them into the Key in order to keep the Black Guardian from getting his hands on them. He's had a huge grudge against me ever since then," The Doctor said with a weary sigh. The Black Guardian was just another in a long list of people with an axe to grind that he always seemed to run into again and again sooner or later. He would lose his friends over and over, but his enemies were eternal it seemed.
Rose knew that expression on his face and wanted nothing more but to blurt out to him who she was in order to make him happy again. She knew that she couldn't though. The old Guardian wanted her to stay undercover and so she would for now. Once this was over, however, it would be a different story. This made her all the more determined to beat the Black Guardian and claim her reward.
The Doctor put the tracer into the TARDIS console, and the time ship began to travel to the location of the first segment immediately. Rose knew that it was time to go and gather more recruits for her cause.
"Doctor, I have to leave for now. I will return later to check up on your progress. Good luck to all of you! I'm not going to leave you empty handed, however," Rose said as her hands glowed with golden energy.
Suddenly, a young woman around 18 years old appeared in the TARDIS. She looked at The Doctor and held out her hand smiling at him. "Hello! My name is Lily Wright! I guess you could call me an assistant to the Guardian here. I travel with her and help her out where I can. I don't have any powers though. I'm just an ordinary girl travelling through time and space. It's both terrifying and exciting at the same time but I wouldn't trade it for anything!"
As Lily shook the Doctor's hand, Amy said with a knowing grin, "Something tells me we have a lot in common!"
"Lily is more than an assistant. She's my best friend. I'm leaving her in your care, Doctor. Watch out for her. She's very brilliant and can be extremely helpful at times. She's also jeopardy friendly like no one I've ever seen! I have a connection to her that will bring me back to her if you need me. All she has to do is call me, and I will return. I can only return to talk to you or answer questions though. If you're in a jam, I can't help you out. I'd love to be able to do that but the Guardians have rules against that sort of thing. We can't interfere in events except through our agents. The four of you will have to act for me," Rose said.
Lily stuck out her tongue at Rose. "I am not jeopardy friendly! " She said with a mock angry expression on her face.
"Really? The last time I went somewhere with you I seem to remember that you somehow managed to get the Sontarans and the Rutans united in a common cause for the first time in 50,000 years. They both wanted to join forces to hunt you down and kill you! You don't call that jeopardy friendly? You're still on a shoot on sight list for both of them!" Rose said with a grin on her face.
"Well, that's not my fault. Neither of them could take constructive criticism! I just told them both how stupid they were for fighting a war for 50,000 years that neither of them will ever win because they're too evenly matched. What a bunch of soreheads!" Lily said with a big smile on her face as she joked with her friend.
Lily was the only person other than the old Guardian who knew Rose's true identity. She knew all about Rose's relationship with the Doctor and all of the key details of her life. Rose trusted Lily more than anyone else except for the Doctor. She knew that she could count on her because they had been through a lot together. Rose had met Lily back on Pete's World, and the old Guardian had let Rose take Lily with her to her original universe. The two of them were inseparable and were more like sisters than friends. They had both worked together at Torchwood under Rose's father and had tons of experience fighting against alien threats because of this. The whole Guardian thing was still new to Lily, but she was doing her best to get used to it for Rose's sake. Lily was afraid that if she wasn't there for Rose that she might lose her connection to humanity because of her newfound powers. Lily was not going to lose her best friend if she could help it!
Rose could sense what Lily was thinking about, and she placed a hand on Lily's shoulder and gave her a look that she hoped conveyed to her that Rose wasn't going to ever change. She knew how Lily felt about the Guardian situation and had tried to convince her that she would be okay. Lily was still unconvinced, however. She knew that Lily was terrified of losing Rose because Rose was not just her best friend but her only friend. Lily had lost both of her parents during an alien invasion on Pete's World and this was where Rose first met her. Rose had saved her life and ever since then Lily had stuck to Rose like glue and had been terrified that she would lose her too.
Rose knew that this wasn't going to happen though. She was still herself and still felt a strong connection to others especially her friends. Rose was broken out of her thoughts as she realized that Jenny was standing in front of her wanting to talk to her.
"I just wanted to thank you for bringing me to my dad. Why did you help me though? I don't know you," Jenny asked with a slight hesitation to her voice. Rose realized that Jenny was a little afraid of her.
"I helped you because I know how it feels to be in your shoes. I know how it feels to want to be with someone so much and yet you can't get to them because of a huge obstacle blocking your path," Rose said as she gently patted Jenny on the shoulder. She liked the young Time Lady and didn't want her to be afraid of her.
Rose smiled as she could see the tension in Jenny drain, and she felt more at ease around her. Jenny smiled and went back to stand next to the Doctor. The Doctor was staring at Rose again with a curious expression on his face. Rose knew that his internal cogs and gears in his mental machinery were hard at work trying to figure out who she was. She knew him so well.
Rose had to leave now so she gave one final goodbye. "I'll see all of you later after you've gotten the first segment. Lily, watch over them. The rest of you all watch over Lily!" She joked. She could see Lily roll her eyes as she left the TARDIS in a blinding flash of golden light.
Amy immediately turned to Lily, and said, "Okay, spill it! Who is she?"
"I'm sworn to secrecy! I can't tell anyone," Lily said with a grin.
"So you admit that you know who she is then?" Amy asked with triumph.
"I admit nothing. I know nothing. I see nothing. I say nothing!" Lily said as she deliberately tried to annoy Amy.
"I can see why the Sontarans and Rutans hate you," Amy joked back.
The Doctor just shook his head and Jenny giggled. Then, the TARDIS broke up the conversation as they finally arrived at the location of the first segment.
"We've arrived. Oh! It's Earth in the year 1600. London, England. I'll have to be careful here. Queen Elizabeth still wants my head over our little misunderstanding back in my last incarnation. Luckily, she doesn't know my new face. I'll just have to go by the name John Smith here until this is all over with. Hopefully, I'll be able to avoid her until then," The Doctor said with a fearful look on his face at having to come up against Elizabeth again. She had really gotten mad about the whole marriage thing. He hadn't understood that she had wanted to marry him, and he had run out of the ceremony in a heated panic as it suddenly dawned on him what was going on. She had been chasing after him the whole way calling for his head. She had somehow thought that he fancied her and was dead set on marrying him until he rejected her. Now she just wanted him dead. What a fickle woman!
"I've never been to Earth. This will be fun! I've always wanted to go there," Jenny said with excitement.
They opened the doors to the TARDIS to peek outside to see that they were right next to the Globe Theater. The Doctor smiled with a huge grin and almost leaped with joy. Maybe Will will be here he thought. He would love to see Shakespeare again. He then had a horrible thought of Shakespeare hitting on Jenny. He would have to put a quick stop to that if the bard tried it!
As they walked toward the Globe, however, they were met not by Shakespeare; but by another familiar face to the Doctor. This was a very unwelcome face. Particularly since this person was pointing a gun at the Doctor's head!
"I knew that you would come here to the Globe sooner or later, Doctor. I remember your love of Shakespeare. You're so predictable! I can read you like a book!" said the Master. He was still in the body he had the last time the Doctor had saw him just before he regenerated. He was wearing the clothes of an official of Elizabeth's court and this instantly tipped the Doctor off to what he was going to do next.
"Arrest him! This is the notorious Doctor! The hated enemy of the Queen! Her Majesty will decide his fate!" The Master shouted to some nearby guards.
The Master laughed as the Doctor was hauled off to the Tower of London. "Goodbye, Doctor! Knowing you it won't take long for you to escape, but I'll already have the segment by that time. So it really doesn't matter to me. Once I assemble the Key, I'll just kill you then. See you later!" The Master taunted.
The guards looked at the Doctor's companions questioningly and looked to the Master for orders on what to do with them. The Master thought for a moment, and then said, "Let them go. I'll deliver them to her Majesty in person after I ask them some questions. We have a great deal to talk about I think."
"Leave them alone! They don't know anything. If you have questions, come to me. Let them go," The Doctor screamed back at the Master as he was led further and further away.
"Yeah, like I'm gonna let them go so they can pop up later to stop me. I don't think so! You three are coming with me! You're going to tell me everything you know about the Key, and you are going to show me how this works," The Master said as he holds out the tracer that he took from the Doctor in his hand.
With his other hand. The Master still held a gun on the three woman and motioned them to get into the TARDIS. "Open the TARDIS ," he ordered them.
They all stood there unmoving. The Master grew angry and pointed the gun at Amy's head. "Do it or I kill the redhead!" he threatened.
Jenny took the TARDIS key from Amy's pocket and hesitantly walked toward the TARDIS. She didn't know this man but she knew instinctively that letting him into the TARDIS would be a very bad idea. She had to think of something quickly. What should she do?
Meanwhile in the present day, Rose had come to ask another old friend of hers to join her on her mission. She appeared in a golden flash of light in front of a bar in Cardiff. She hadn't known where to find her old friend exactly until she reached out with her newly enhanced senses. She was still learning how to use her new power so it took a little time to locate him but she finally did it. It figured that he would be in a bar.
She walked into the bar and saw him sitting there at the counter with his back to her. She had used her power to disguise herself as a young brunette woman that bore little resemblance to her true self so that she wouldn't be recognized by the man.
She gestured at the old time jukebox that sat in the corner by the door and it started to play Moonlight Serenade. That was the song that the man had played for her when they first met.
She knew that it might cause him to recognize her, but she wanted to give the man a clue to who she was. She hated lying to her friends. She secretly wanted them to figure it out on their own. It wouldn't be a bad thing if they found out by themselves with a little nudge from her, would it?
The man turned in the direction of the music and saw her standing next to it staring at him as she planned. "Hello! Captain Jack Harkness! " he said as he immediately started flirting.
Rose frowned at this. She and Jack had a brother sister relationship and this flirting made her uncomfortable. She immediately put a stop to it. "I know who you are. I've come here to make you an offer," Rose said.
"Okay! Your place or mine?" Jack asked with an enthusiastic grin.
Rose winced. This was just so wrong. "Not that kind of offer, Captain. I want you to help me save the universe," Rose said with an uncomfortable look on her face.
Jack suddenly turned all serious. "Who are you?" he asked as he started looking uncomfortable. He now realized that the jukebox didn't have Moonlight Serenade on it and this made him worried about just who he was dealing with here.
Rose smiled in order to put him at ease and said, "Have you ever heard of the Guardians of Time?"
"Yeah! A little. All Time Agents were told about them. I thought that they were a legend. Then again, I used to think that about Time Lords," Jack answered.
"I'm the White Guardian. I've come to ask for your help in finding the segments to the Key to Time. If I don't find them quickly, the universe will become a terrifying place to live in. The Doctor is already helping me if that will make up your mind for you. You know that the Doctor wouldn't be helping me if I weren't on the side of the angels," Rose said.
"How do I know that he's really helping you? How do I know that you're not making him help you?" Jack said as he became increasingly uncomfortable. A Guardian could probably kill even him with a thought and he had no way of stopping them. He hated feeling helpless like this.
Rose felt his emotions and sensed his thoughts. She tried to comfort him as she said, "You know about the Guardians, Jack. We can't force anyone to do anything against their will. That's our rules. That will change though if the Black Guardian wins. There won't be any free will anymore. There will just be one will guiding everyone forever. I know you don't want that. I need your help."
Jack began to feel like there was something familiar about this woman. He couldn't place it but he knew that he knew her from somewhere. He decided to trust her. "Okay. I'm in. Take me to the Doctor. It's been a long time since I've seen him. Does he still have the same face?" Jack asked.
"No, he's regenerated again. Now, he has a big chin and wears bow ties and tweed. You're going to laugh when you see him. You won't believe it!" Rose said with a giggle.
Jack frowned. The way she was talking to him was like she was an old friend. Who was she?
Rose sensed his thoughts once again and said, "I am someone you know, Jack. I can't tell you who but I can tell you that if you knew who I am that you would trust me instantly. I can't say my name or show you my true face but I just wanted you to know that I'm a friend." She had always been close to Jack and wanted to assure him of his safety with her.
Jack seemed to sense the truth in her words and nodded his head. "When do I go?" he asked.
"Right now. I think he's going to need your help knowing him. I'm sure he's already neck dip in trouble by now," Rose said.
Jack frowned again. This woman seemed to be very familiar with both him and the Doctor. Who was she?
Rose waved her hand and it glowed gold as Jack disappeared and went to where Rose knew the TARDIS now resided. She could feel the TARDIS and knew exactly when and where she was.
Jack appeared in front of the Master and immediately pulled out a gun and held it to the Time Lord's head,
Jenny saw the man that appeared out of nowhere and realized that the Guardian must have sent him. She felt an instant sense of relief,
"It's so nice to see you again. Just give me an excuse and I would love to shot you in the hearts. Take your gun away from the girl's head!" Jack ordered the Master,
"Fine! You won't have the upper hand for long though. Then, we'll get to relive our wonderful time together on the Valiant. I look forward to reacquainting you to the many forms of torture I know," The Master taunted Jack.
The Time Lord lowered his gun and handed it to Jack, "The wand thing too," Jack said pointing to the tracer. Jack took the tracer from the Master and handed it to Amy.
"Thank you! You've got to help my friend, the Doctor, though. He's been arrested and taken to the Tower. The Queen wants his head," Amy said with concern.
"No problem. I'll get him out somehow. Captain Jack Harkness!" Jack said with a smile. There was always time to flirt.
"Amy Pond. I'm married. Happily married," Amy said as she held up the hand with her wedding ring on it.
"Too bad! And you?" Jack said as he turned to Jenny.
"I'm Jenny! I'm the Doctor's daughter!" the Time Lady in question said.
Jack winced instantly. He knew better than to deal with anyone the Doctor cared about. He had learnt that when he still used to hit on Rose. He quickly learned not to mess with her once he get a face full of the Oncoming Storm look from the Doctor. "You're definitely off limits then. The Doctor would throw me out into a supernova if I tried anything with you! Sorry!" Jack said with regret.
"It's okay. You're right. He would definitely do something like that. I'd hate to see that happen to someone so handsome," Jenny said as she flirted with Jack.
Jack sighed. He already liked the girl but knew that this relationship would go nowhere fast once the Doctor found out.
He finally turned to Lily and said, "And you?"
Lily smiled and nodded. "Lily Wright. I'm definitely available. Any time and any place," she nodded with enthusiasm.
Jack smiled and said, "I'll have to get to know you better later. Right now, we have a Doctor to find."
The Master rolled his eyes and made a choking noise. "Thank you! I'm getting sick watching you try to sort out your love life, soldier boy! Flirt some other time! Please take us to the Tower now so that I can turn the tables and have you properly tortured in the Tower already!" He said with a manic grin on his face.
"You're so sure that you're going to win, huh?" Jack said with a grin.
"I know I am, Captain Casanova! I'm a Time Lord. My superior brain is always going to win out against a big stupid ape with a gun and a raging libido. You don't stand a chance. Just go ahead and take us to the Tower and let's get this over with," The Master said with a cocky grin.
"Fine. Let's go!" Jack said as they started toward the Tower. He was determined that the Master was not going to be proved right.
They were all being watched by a figure in the shadows. The figure whispered to himself, "So, the Master has decided to throw his hat into the ring, has he? This will not do. He must be dealt with. I can't have him causing me to lose the contest. I must possess the Key To Time. Ultimate power will be mine! The new Time Lords will answer to me. Not to the Black or the White Guardians! The Time Lords will belong to me as they should have in the beginning had Rassilon and the Other not stood in my way. The Time Lords will be led by Omega and I will be their god!"
Enter Omega into the game. So, we've already got Omega and the Master and the champions of the Black Guardian still haven't shown up yet. Who could they be? Who else will Rose recruit? Where is the First Segment and what is it disguised as?
Stay tuned to find out! Same Who time, Same Who channel! Sorry, I couldn't resist.
