Chapter three: Wedding bells
"I'm sorry."
"Save it."
"Doctor, I'm really sorry!"
The Doctor was on his way to the console and Jack followed. "When did you last see the rings?"
"Um…this morning. I put them in my coat pocket."
"So you have no idea what might have happened between early this morning and right now?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah."
"Please tell me that you spent all day in one location."
"I'm so so sorry."
The Doctor groaned and hit a few buttons. "Let's retrace your steps. Last place you were was the Rift. We'll start there."
Shakily, the TARDIS took off and Jack laughed uncomfortably. "Good thing this is a time machine. We'll be able to be on time no matter how long it takes us to find it. It could be worse."
"Don't say that. Please don't say that."
Rose and Jackie were panicking over the dress situation. "It looks like someone stabbed me in the heart and I bled everywhere!" Rose exclaimed.
"Too bad this isn't a Halloween theme. It'd totally work."
"Mum, not helping! What are we going to do?"
"I read that vinegar gets out red wine!" she proclaimed. "Get out of that dress as quick as you can. I'll be getting ready in the kitchen."
Rose slipped out of her dress and threw on her mother's robe. She ran to the kitchen and Jackie took the dress, tossing it in the sink.
"Mum…are you sure about this?"
Jackie scoffed. "Of course I am. Just pour on the vinegar and blot away. I read it online."
She poured almost the entire bottle on the stain and grabbed a blue cloth, blotting with force. It wasn't working, so she scrubbed and scrubbed. Rose couldn't watch. Blue dye was transferred to the pink fabric and it smelled awful. Jackie eventually gave up, scowling at how much worse it was.
"I don't understand. It's supposed to work. What is this made of?" she read the tag and gasped. "Dry clean only. Well. There's the problem."
"Mum!"
"Sorry! We'll go see Thomas," Jackie declared as she left to get an outfit.
"Of course! Bless you for dating a dry cleaner, Mum!"
She returned in clothes and threw Rose's overnight bag towards her. "Put something on. And shake a leg. We don't want that to set. We have to get to his flat right now."
Rose changed and they ran outside, catching a cab to Jackie's boyfriend. He lived in a tiny building several blocks away. It was well past midnight when Jackie pounded on the door. After a pause, the door opened and Thomas answered in his jimjams. Rose cringed at his roving eyeball.
"Jackie! What do I owe the pleasure?" he yawned, suddenly seeing Rose. "And Rose! Hello again!"
"We have an emergency," Jackie explained. He stepped aside and they rushed in. "Show him, Rose."
She carefully splayed the dress on the table and he leaned over it, humming thoughtfully. "That's my wedding dress. I accidentally spilled wine on it. We tried to clean it, but it didn't work. Can you save it?"
"How long ago did the accident occur? What did you use on it?" he questioned, examining it more closely.
"About twenty or thirty minutes. We tried vinegar and a cloth," Jackie provided.
"Damn. No wonder it smells. You shouldn't have done that. We have to move or your dress will be lost. I can't work here. I don't have my equipment. To the shop!"
They exited his flat and traveled the block over to his dry cleaning shop. He rushed inside and cradled the dress neatly. "You wait here. I'll see what I can do."
He vanished into the back and the Tyler women sat on chairs near the front. Jackie took Rose's hand. "He's the best in London. Don't you worry. If anyone can save your dress, it's him. Good thing I'm not dating a sailor or a bus driver. It could be worse."
She grimaced. "Did you have to say that?"
Jack and the Doctor were wandering in the darkness of Cardiff with torches illuminating the ground. So far, they had checked near the Rift and didn't find anything. They were walking back towards his flat. "What if someone found them?" the Doctor mumbled. "What if they found them and kept them? Or what if they pawned them?"
"They didn't," Jack tried to sound reassuring. "Why don't we just go back and follow me around? See what happened? That way, we know that no one got them."
"Timelines. We could cause a paradox. I've been there and done that. You know, for once I wanted something to be normal. Just me and Rose Tyler, a little wedding, end of story. But no. Your priest ex-boyfriend is an idiot, ruins our plans, we manage to pull it together, and you lose the rings when I specifically told you not to. That's all the best man has to do, Jack. Stand up there and hand over the rings at the appropriate time. Is that so difficult?"
"Now you listen here, Doctor. Mike wasn't my boyfriend. It was one drunken holiday in Spain."
"That's what you're defending?" the Doctor smirked.
"Well, the rest of it is true…"
They gave up looking on the street and wandered into his flat. They turned the place upside-down, finding things that really the Doctor would rather have left to his imagination. The rings weren't anywhere to be found, so Jack assumed that he left them at work. He swallowed. "You aren't going to like where I work, Doctor."
"Where is that?"
"Well, Torchwood. We destroyed the Sycorax ship on Christmas awhile back. But it's changed. There was some big melt down about a year ago with the original one, so I took over here in Cardiff."
The Doctor grimaced. "This day just gets better and better."
Rose and Jackie stood up as Thomas returned, slipping the reddened gloves from his hands. "Well, how did it go? Did it make it?" Jackie questioned nervously.
"There was a lot of fluid. I did my best to remove as much of the pigment as possible, but the vinegar and blue dye made things worse. It was too late. I'm sorry. Your dress is ruined."
He put a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder. She couldn't believe it. "I just got that dress. My wedding is today and we don't have time or money to get another one. What are we going to do?"
"I have some dresses in the back. They were never picked up, so I've just held onto them. Maybe you'll find one that fits," Thomas offered.
"You'd let me have one?" Rose asked in surprised.
"Of course I would. What am I going to do with them? Clearly not going to be a bride. Go on and have a look at your choices."
She smiled and embraced him, running to the back to see what she could find. There were about six wedding dresses, but all that she could find was a single one in her size. It was the most hideous thing she had ever seen before in her life. She checked on her other dress and the red stain was still visible, not to mention the stench of vinegar. It was wear the dress with the smelly stain, wear the ugly dress, or decide to have a casual wedding ceremony. She held up the dress that looked like it was from the 1960s, and she grimaced. "How can this day get any better?"
Jack snuck the Doctor into Torchwood. No one was there that late. He sat down at the computer and checked a security feed. "There I am coming in first thing this morning," Jack stated as they observed.
The Doctor leaned in closer and rewound the footage. "Jack…you're wearing a different coat in these frames."
He looked at the screen and looked at his outfit. "Oh."
"Oh what?"
"Before I went to meet you at the Rift, I changed coats."
"Why?"
"Because I changed outfits. That coat wouldn't go with the…never mind. It's a vanity thing. My point is that the rings must be in the other coat."
The Doctor nodded. "Where's the other coat?"
"…my apartment."
"We were just there!"
"Yeah and I didn't check my other coat. Did you?" Jack pointed out. When the Doctor shook his head, he smiled. "There. We've found the rings. Everything will be fine from here."
Rose tried on the other dress. It fit all right, but she still hated it. Jackie came back to see it and made a face. "Is that all?"
"This is the only one."
She checked the other dress and frowned. "So it's the big stain or the big ugly. What's it going to be?"
"Maybe we should just get married in jeans."
"But it's a formal occasion! Everyone is dressing up."
She groaned. "Mum, what I am going to do?"
"Well, that dress isn't so bad, I suppose. It does make you look like a—"
"Church bell. Yeah, I know. I guess it'll do. We need sleep before the big day. Let's just make it work."
Jackie went back to the front to thank Thomas while Rose changed. The three of them began walking back towards his flat. "See? We averted disaster and everything will be just fine from now on. I just know it," Thomas grinned.
The Doctor finally found the rings in the pocket of Jack's other coat. They went back to the TARDIS in silence and he tweaked a few things before giving the box back to Jack. "I put a small chip inside of the box so that we can track it if you lose it again. But don't. Really. Don't."
He saluted. "You got it, Doctor."
"Don't do that. I hate that."
Jack smiled and nudged him with his elbow. "Cheer up. You're getting married! Let's ride that horse of yours to get you smiling again. What's his name?"
"Aladdin Timothy Arthur Rafiq Draco Ihab Simba Tyler. Or just Al for short."
"Wow. That's complicated. Anyway, what do you say? Go for a spin?" he offered, hoping to make peace.
That got the Doctor smiling. "Oh yes."
They piled into the stable in the back of the TARDIS and climbed onto Aladdin. Jack wasn't quite ready to move yet, as he didn't have a good hold on the Doctor, but the Doctor didn't know that. They sped off and Jack went flying away, effectively falling on his foot. It wasn't until they had completed a lap that the Doctor noticed Jack wasn't there. He came back and saw the look on Jack's face.
"You know how a best man is just supposed to hold the rings and stand next to you?"
"Yes…"
"Well, I lost the rings before and now I think I've broken my ankle."
He exhaled deeply. "Of course you have."
After helping Jack to his feet, they made their way to the medical bay where the Doctor confirmed that it was broken. He put a cast on it and handed him crutches. Jack grinned cheekily. "Do you have basic black? I think they'll go better with the fancy suit."
"No. Let's just get some sleep and hope things get better."
They went to their separate bedrooms and tried to get some rest. Several hours later when the morning began, everyone was in panic mode. Rose and Jackie were trying to get ready while checking on reservations and the minister. Jack was having difficulty getting around without help from the Doctor, which made taking a bath and getting dressed incredibly uncomfortable. They parked the TARDIS in the banquet hall so Jack didn't have to move as far. The Doctor covered it with sheets from the hotel's courtesy desk and took his place at the front of the room in the tux he lifted from Pete's world. Jack pulled up a chair next to him until it was start time.
People arrived and took their seats while some bloke put on a complimentary wedding playlist. A kid wandered up to the front with a book of some sort and clapped the Doctor on the back. "You must be the groom. What's happening?"
He blinked. "Who are you?"
"I'm the minister."
"You're joking. You're a child."
The kid scoffed. "I'm eighteen. This is perfectly legal. What's your name so I can write it in the speech?"
"Doctor."
"Doctor who?"
He shut his eyes and took a long breath. This wasn't happening. "Just the Doctor."
"That's your legal name?"
The Doctor flashed his psychic paper and gestured to the lad. "You're in jeans and a jumper."
"I just had a growth spurt. My suit doesn't fit."
Jack reached up and gave the Doctor a pat on the shoulder. "Things will be fine. Don't worry."
Rose and Jackie were in the hotel lobby, waiting nervously for the cue to enter the hall. She had a bouquet of flowers and kept twisting them anxiously, almost hard enough to snap the stems. "Calm down," Jackie whispered. "It'll be fine."
"How do I explain this dress? It's awful."
"But you look beautiful. He won't care what you're wearing as long as you show up."
Inside, the cue was given and Jack painfully balanced beside the Doctor. Both of his hearts were racing as two hotel workers opened the banquet doors and Jackie started down the aisle. She reached the front and glared at the boy minister and Jack's crutches.
"What happened to him?" she asked in a loud murmur, motioning to Jack.
Jack cleared his throat awkwardly. "We had a few mishaps…"
The music changed and people stood for Rose. She started inside with a stunning smile. The Doctor smiled back and everything was perfect. It didn't matter what happened up to that moment. No, that's because everything was just fine. Nothing else could go wrong from there…right?
A flash of light appeared in midair above the aisle. There were loud noises like thunder or bombshells. Suddenly, a man came flying through and landed on the floor with a thud. He held up a large gun and fired into the light. Shortly after, it disappeared. He panted and stood up, adjusting his suit.
"Where am I?" he asked curiously. His eyes met Rose's and he laughed. "Well. If it isn't Rose Tyler. Why are you dressed like that?"
"Oh, I just like to wander around London in a wedding dress that's older than I am. It's such a flattering look," she deadpanned. "You've just crashed my wedding…Dad."