Chapter Four
Rose looked around the interior of the TARDIS as she trailed behind the Doctor and his companion. The reassuring feeling from the TARDIS warmed her and spurred her on. At least she had found one incarnation of the Doctor, although she still didn't know which one. He obviously had not recognized her so she knew it was likely that he pre-dated her Doctor, and indeed the entire Time War. Knowing the Doctor was telepathic she worried about the wrong thoughts and feelings breaking through. She would have to keep some distance between them, she realized.
The TARDIS communicated to her non-verbally again, sending Rose the feeling that the time capsule would shield the necessary information from the Doctor, if he accidentally picked up on any of her thoughts.
The Doctor led the two young women into the large, well-stocked kitchen and kindly motioned for them to sit at the table. He turned to ask Rose, "How do you like your tea, Miss - "
"Tyler. You can call me Rose, though. Milk and two sugars would be great, thank you."
Peri stuck her hand out to Rose. "I'm Peri Brown. I was here in the TARDIS when the Doctor regenerated. Quite an experience if you don't know what's going on, isn't it?" She deliberately didn't provide many details on this most recent regeneration. After all, he'd been suffering from the shock of regeneration and she remembered her "first" Doctor saying, "It feels different this time." At the time she didn't know what he meant by that, but after this incarnation of the Doctor had steadied somewhat and they discussed the whole incident in the console room, she knew she was right to continue traveling with him.
Rose shook Peri's hand and smiled. "Yes, when I first met the Doctor he kindly neglected to tell me much about the Time Lords, especially about being able to regenerate when close to death." She paused for a moment, frowning, then went on quickly, "We, uh... Do you know about the Daleks?" she asked nervously.
The Doctor handed the cups of tea to them, and said, "I think you can safely say we've been unfortunate enough to have made their acquaintance."
Rose grinned as he sat down between them, setting his own cup of tea down. She continued, "I can't say much, but I can tell you in general. Daleks were gathering at the edge of the Solar system, I saved the day with the help of the TARDIS - which is why she knows and loves me - and my Doctor, in turn, had to save me. After he did, he told me 'every cell in my body is dying right now'. I couldn't believe it! I had gone through all that, only to stand there in the console room and watch him die. He assured me he would be back, but different. Before he could elaborate, he said - and I'll never forget his last words: 'Before I go I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic! And you know what? So was I!'"
The Doctor and Peri looked significantly at one another, then he turned back to Rose. "To satisfy your curiosity, my dear, I am on my sixth life, or incarnation as we generally say. Peri here met 'me' when I was in my fifth incarnation. She was here when I regenerated in the console room."
Peri stared at him for a moment, then looked at Rose. "What he isn't telling you is that 'my' Doctor died saving me, as well. He has a habit of doing that it sounds like. He got the antidote to a poison he and I both had, but on his way back to the TARDIS one of the vials broke. Having only one dose left, he gave it to me before I knew what he was doing. Imagine my surprise when, as he lay his head on my lap, he began to change right before my eyes."
Rose grinned and looked from the Doctor back to Peri. "He was lying down next to you when that golden light stuff came shooting out of his head and arms? Scared the hell out of me!"
The Doctor and Peri looked at one another in confusion. Peri answered, "Um... no, he just kind of morphed from one face and body to the next, this one."
"Golden light?" the Doctor asked. "Granted, I've never seen myself regenerate but I've seen other Time Lords do so. There was never any type of golden light."
"Oh, God," Rose whispered. She'd mentioned too much already. She didn't think there was any danger talking about something like regeneration with a Time Lord. Could the process have altered, somehow, due to the Time War that he must never know anything about? As the thoughts raced through her mind, unbidden, she saw the Doctor frown, as though he was picking up on her.
"Miss Tyler, I wonder... No! Never mind, I won't ask you. You have piqued my curiosity, young lady, and if you know anything about me, that's not difficult to do."
Rose nodded her head in confirmation. "Do I ever! But you're right, I need to shut up both verbally and mentally. The TARDIS told me she'd help shield anything from your future you must not see, so I'll nip this part of the conversation in the bud. To satisfy your curiosity a little bit, when I meet you you're in your ninth incarnation."
"Ninth! Huh. Nice to know I'll still be flitting about the cosmos for that long. Thank you, Rose! So to continue the conversation we started in the console room, it's obvious why the TARDIS wanted to bring us here: to help you get back to your universe and reunite with 'your' Doctor. What is your relative time, Rose?"
"I was pulled into this universe in July of 2006, after we'd found a way to defeat the armies of both the Daleks and the Cybermen."
The Doctor and Peri exclaimed simultaneously, "Both?!"
Rose sighed and looked into her tea cup. "Yes. Worst day of my life. I was listed as MIA at Canary Wharf that day, probably killed. Swept off the face of the planet for all anyone knew."
The Doctor patted Rose's hand reassuringly. "Well, I, with the TARDIS' help, seem to have solved the multiversal transference problem. I only wonder why my future self thought there was no way to retrieve you without damaging the fabric of the multiverse."
"He - you - gawd this can get confusing - may not have realized, by then, that it was possible. My only question now is, when do we leave?"
The Doctor laughed and looked between the two of them. "Let's finish up here and return to the console room and I'm sure our old girl and I can get you to London, July of 2006, in about ten minutes!"
Rose's eyes filled with tears and she leaned forward, throwing her arms around the Doctor's neck. It was all she could do to keep from weeping with joy because even though this wasn't her Doctor, he was still the Doctor and he was going to bring her home at last.