Title: The Drums
Author: gate-ship
Characters: Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones, Jackie Tyler, Pete Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jack Harkness, Jake, the rest of the Jones clan except for Leo, OC…so basically a bunch of people…
Summary: Rose Tyler is the head of a team for Torchwood, saving the universe. After one particular mission, things go a little wrong. Reunion fic.
Chapter Four:
Rose felt the Doctor gulp. "Mum, don't go slappin' him," she said. "He honestly thought we'd never see each other again."
"Then 'ow come he's here?" Jackie asked.
"That would have been my family. Who I will deal with at a later date," Ryssen said. "Why don't we all go into the house? It would be more comfortable."
"Where are we, Martha?" Mrs. Jones asked.
"I don't know mum," Martha said.
"Okay…" Ryssen said.
"I'll explain," Jackie said.
"No," the Doctor said. "You couldn't possibly explain."
"He's an alien," Jackie said, pointing to the Doctor. "He met my daughter and she traveled with him. This is his spaceship. It travels through time too. He may be completely insane, but he kept my daughter safe. Even sent her back when he was goin' to die. Granted, Rose went after him, but whatever. You're in an alternate universe right now. I was born and lived in yours, but I live here now. You're perfectly safe."
The Doctor stared at Jackie. "Well…that works…" he said.
"…Alternate universe?" Mrs. Jones asked in a faint voice.
"For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction," the Doctor said.
"That's physic's, lack wit," Ryssen said. "Every time you're faced with a choice, there's a universe that's created for the choice or choices that you didn't make. Nobody knows how many there are, and there's this thing called the Void that separates them all."
"S'like when you're almost done with a bowl of cereal," Jackie piped in. "The milk's the Void and the Cheerios are the universes. Only when the Cheerios touch, that's bad."
The Doctor stared at Ryssen and Jackie. "It's my job to explain," he said petulantly. "It's not fair if you two do it for me!"
"It's all right," Rose said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You can explain everything to me."
"But you already know," the Doctor said.
"Not about everything. Like how the hell Ryssen got us here," Rose said.
"…That I'm not too sure of either," the Doctor said.
"Well I'm hungry. And I want to see the baby," Ryssen said, flouncing out of the TARDIS.
Rose went after her, pulling the Doctor along with her. Jake and Mickey followed, and so did Jackie.
"Wait for me!" Jack called, running out too.
Martha looked at her mum, dad, and sister. "Come on, it'll be fine," she said.
"He's an alien?" Tish asked.
"Yeah," Martha said.
oOoOoOo
To say Pete was surprised to see the Doctor was an understatement. He stared at the Doctor for a full five minutes before saying, "How…"
"Me," Ryssen said. "Come on, I've got explaining to do. And where's the baby?"
"He's napping," Pete said. "Finally went down ten minutes ago."
"To the kitchen then," Jackie said, leading the way. Once there, she ushered the three cooks out. They were used to Jackie frequently kicking them out of their own domain, and went without protest. Jackie began preparing tea while Rose dove at the fridge.
"What does anyone want?" she asked. "We've got nearly everything."
"Chocolate," Ryssen said, going to peer into the fridge next to Rose. "Ooh! Chocolate pudding! Score!" Ryssen said, pulling out the container. Jackie handed her a bowl and spoon and Ryssen happily went to the table and sat down, scooping pudding into her bowl.
Rose got out her desired food—chocolate ice cream—and Mickey and Jake got out what they wanted. The three went to the table while everyone but Jackie and Pete stared at them. "Take what you want, seriously," Rose said.
The Doctor shrugged and sat in between Rose and Ryssen, dipping a finger into the pudding. "Oi! That does not mean you can eat out of my bowl with your hands!" Ryssen said indignantly.
The Doctor turned to Rose with a pouting expression and she shook her head. "Spoon," she said. He sighed and grabbed hers out of her hand, resulting in a smack and, "I didn't mean my spoon."
"Explain, Ryss," Jake said. "Please."
"Okay…So, we were walking along and then BAM! We get snatched away and land on a plane in another universe. I'm betting that was my family cuz I'm half Romulan. And Romulan's have this secret ability to phase through universes without using the Void. To use Jackie's example of the cereal, we hop from Cheerio to Cheerio."
"…You're an alien?" Pete asked. "How did you pass the physical for Torchwood?"
"I fudged it. Romulan DNA is close to human DNA, only we're sorta immortal," Ryssen said.
"I'm not even going to ask how exactly you did that," Pete sighed, leaning against the counter next to his wife.
"That's a good idea," Ryssen said. "So, since I'm only half Romulan there has to be another half of me. Which would be Time Lord."
Everyone in the room who knew what a Time Lord was stared at her in shock.
"More specifically, I'm lunkhead here's half sister," Ryssen added.
The same people staring now stared with jaws dropped.