The New Adventures of the Doctor and Rose

Episode 6

Special thanks to my beta, cytherea999

"Oooh, a haunted house!" The Doctor began as he looked around the decrepit mansion where the ghosts were last seen.

"This is fun to you, is it?" Trev accused.

"Oh yes!" The Doctor replied.

"C'mon, Trev! Ease up on John. He's alien and all," Les pointed out. "Go with Roger. Doc, you're with me."

Trev frowned but did as Les commanded. She was in charge until Rose was back on her feet.

"Am I scanning things?" The Doctor asked when Les handed him a small piece of equipment that looked like something akin to an iphone.

"Yeah. If you don't mind?"

"Don't mind. Got something better to scan with though." He reached into his Torchwood issue flak jacket and brandished his favourite tool.

"What's that now?" she asked.

"Sonic screwdriver. Made it myself. Lost the last one I had. You see, it has several settings…" He walked on, cheerfully prattling about his sonic screwdriver – until a feminine scream echoed down the hall.

Les and the Doctor quickly ran to the source of the scream, only to see Trev running towards them. In a great show of physics, specifically Momentum = mass­ x velocity, the two males ended up meeting in a heap of limbs on the floor.

"Bloody Spaceman!" Trev hissed as he disentangled himself from the Doctor.

"Bloody Earth boy!" The Doctor replied, then furrowed his brow. "Wait a tick. That scream Les and I just heard… was you?"

"I didn't scream!" Trev answered, a little too quickly.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Ooooh, you're such a liar. Not very manly of you, Trev. You're supposed to be the brawn of the team and all." Trev tried to protest the Doctor's accusation, but was promptly ignored. "Where's Roger then?"

"I…" Trev jumped to his feet, "He was here! I swear he was. Right behind me."

Les stepped forward to assist the Doctor up, "Tell me you didn't leave him back there, Trev."

"He was behind me!" Trev insisted. "We saw … something. A shadow. It was coming at us. Our weapons didn't work on it so I made a command decision to retreat."

"And scream like a girl, apparently," The Doctor added.

"Oi!" Trev snapped. "Want I should make you sound like a girl?"

"Well, as tempting as that sounds," the Doctor frowned, "We need to look for Roger." He began to walk down the hall, but stopped when he noticed no one was following him. "What?"

"Last I checked," Les began, hands on her hips, "I was the commanding officer here."

"Oh…" the Doctor realized. It was difficult to follow someone else's lead.

"I say we go find Roger," Les decided.

"Brilliant plan, Commander," The Doctor grinned.

Weapon at the ready, Les led the two down the hall, calling out for Roger along the way. She came upon an old wooden door and pushed it open. "Hello?"

The group walked into the rather large Victorian room. The Doctor glanced around, his eyes drawn to a dresser against the far wall. Curiosity forced him to open it. He found several silver shifts and a few silken nightgowns. "What's the address again?"

"Fifty Berkeley Square."

The Doctor furrowed his brow. "Historical. Probably one of the most haunted mansions in London." He stopped. At least, in the other universe.

"What... is… that…?" a whisper escaped from Trev.

The Doctor turned to see what had caught Trev's attention, and froze.

Before the group stood a young translucent woman. She was glowing soft white, with long golden hair flowing to her waist.

"Amazing," The Doctor commented softly.

The woman suddenly turned to him, blue eyes wide. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out.

She then turned towards Les.

Before anyone could stop her, she darted towards the brunette and disappeared.

"Les?" Trev spoke up when he saw his temporary commander had yet to move in response to what had just happened.

She cocked her head towards him, standing motionless, eyes glowing blue, staring as if she had never seen him before.

The Doctor took a step towards her, "Who are you?"

Les suddenly began to speak in a language The Doctor had not heard for several hundred years. "Ah… I see…" he realized. "Not Gelth." He then replied in the same language.

"What the hell is going on?!" Trev demanded as he backed away from the two before him. "You both possessed now? Your heads' gonna start spinning 'round?"

"Oh don't be daft," The Doctor replied impatiently, "We're simply talking!"

"Talking?" Trev asked suspiciously.

"Talk-ing," the Doctor pronounced slowly. "To communicate or exchange ideas and information verbally. To consult or confer, to-"

"I know what it bloody-well means!" Trev snapped angrily. "What are you saying?"

The creature inhabiting Les responded in English.

We do not mean any harm. Long ago, our ship was damaged. We found ourselves falling until this world appeared before us.

"Do you know what damaged the ship?" The Doctor asked.

An energy spike. It was so bright, we could not describe it.

"The rift?" The Doctor wondered.

If that is what you call frightened the inhabitants of this place when we took up residence, though we did not intend to. We have only been able to communicate with others when there is a living body present to use as an avatar.

"And the minds in those bodies?" The Doctor asked suspiciously.

They are well. This creature… Les, you called her? She sleeps now. She will later awaken as if from a dream.

The Doctor nodded at this, relieved. "This planet is called Earth. I'm the Doctor, and the creatures here are Humans."

Les nodded at that. But you are not one of these hu-mans?

"I'm not native to this planet, no."

Ah, then you are as confused by this world as we are.

"Well… I have had several dealings with humans, but that doesn't make them any less confusing."

I understand. We asked the … hu-mans… for help but they seemed very frightened and called us… 'Demons'. What is a demon?

The Doctor waved his hand, "Humans have varying beliefs. In many cases, they create stories for things they don't understand. An unknown creature inhabiting a human body just happens to fit one of those stories."

"A'right you," Trev began, coming up closer and aiming his weapon at Les, "Leave her now! Or else!"

The Doctor put a hand on Trev's gun, gently pushing it out of the way. "A bit counterproductive if you're trying to save her, isn't it?"

Trev glared at the Doctor, glanced back at Les, then holstered his weapon with a scowl. He really didn't like it when the aliens were right.

Can you help us return home?

The Doctor turned his attention back to the creature inhabiting Les. "If memory serves – and it usually does, even in parallel worlds - it's been over a century since the first claim of paranormal activity in this house. Why do you want to leave now?"

Your rift is opening once more to where we need to be. It will take place within forty-eight hours. We cannot miss this chance, for we may never have it again.

The Doctor nodded. "If I help you, will you promise to leave all those you've possessed intact?"

Yes. That was always our plan. We see no need to stay here. It is rather… primitive.

"Take me to your leader!"

Not!Les didn't seem to understand the reference.

The Doctor was crestfallen. "Show us to your ship then…"

"Are you crazy, Spaceman?" Trev demanded, "You have no idea what they're planning!"

The Doctor turned to Trev, "They're planning to go home."

"What about Roger?" Trev asked suspiciously. "What did they do with him?"

Your Roger is with the others, working on the ship. He is unharmed. We needed to borrow him.

"There you go, Trev."

"But…"

"But what? If you want Les and Roger back, then we help them get home."

With a harsh scowl, Trev followed the Doctor and not!Les to where they needed to be.

The Doctor quickly wrote up his analysis of what had happened in the so-called haunted house. The damage to the ship had not been as bad as he had thought.

Two hours, a bit of extra metal, a touch of welding, and setting 4632 on the sonic screwdriver was all that was needed to make the ship fly once more. He was just grateful it wasn't his job to explain to twenty very confused humans what had happened to them in the past few days.

He had left that up to Trev.

The Doctor printed up his very detailed report (a word for word, second to second analysis of all that had occurred) and sent it through interoffice mail. He then made his way to the lab, which he found far more interesting than his office, and froze.

There it was again. That odd buzzing in the back of his mind. He closed his eyes a moment and tried to concentrate on it. It was weak. Too weak to pick up.

After a few moments, it disappeared.

He pushed it from his mind and slid his glasses on to study the sonic. There was a setting he had been thinking of adding shortly after Rose was hurt. Now would be a good time to do so.

It would give him something to think about other than the fact he might just be going nutters.

Rose's eyes flew open as she felt the bed depress. She looked up to see the Doctor lying on his stomach, chin propped up in his hands, face inches from hers.

"You've been sleeping all day, so I've been told," he said.

"Painkillers," she murmured, still sleepy.

"Missed you today. Had to fight ghosts all by myself. Least they weren't Cybermen this time."

Rose offered a sleepy smile, "Who ya gonna call?"

"Definitely not Trev. He screams like a girl," the Doctor grinned. He pushed himself to a sit and toed off his trainers, crossing his legs on the bed as he turned to face her. "I added a new setting to the sonic screwdriver when we were done ghost-busting. Epidermal and muscle repair." He indicated her leg then patted his lap.

"You can do that?" she asked.

"Of course. I'm clever," he replied proudly.

Rose raised an eyebrow, but gingerly slid her leg out from the covers and allowed him to help her from there.

"Now it's not perfected yet," he explained. "But worst it can do is nothing. Won't make you explode or anything."

She seemed a bit wary, but took a deep breath and trusted his skills.

The Doctor unwrapped the bandage – which had been recently cleaned – and slipped on his glasses. "Let me know if you feel anything strange."

"Kind of tingly…" she replied as he scanned the blue light over the ugly wound on her leg. "Bit itchy…"

He nodded, "Means it's working." He continued in silence for a few more minutes, then shut the screwdriver off. "Still needs work," he frowned as he looked at the injury. The raw red skin had turned to a healthier pink but went no further. "Saved you about a week of healing at least."

"Doesn't hurt nearly as much," Rose noticed. She then glanced at the painkillers. "Might be able to ease up on those now."

This pulled a smile from the Doctor. He reached for the med kit on her night table and rewrapped the injury, knowing the new skin would still be tender.

"What made you think of that setting?" Rose asked.

"Well…" he taped up the gauze and put everything back in the kit. "You were hurt. Really all the motivation I needed. Actually, I've been thinking the sonic could use a few more additions. First-aid settings certainly wouldn't go amiss."

Rose looked up at him, then reached out and pulled him into an all-consuming embrace, her face pressed against his neck. "Thank you." She let herself fall back onto the bed, still holding onto the Doctor.

He closed his eyes, feeling her soft and warm beneath him. It was completely innocent, but wonderfully intimate as well.

He didn't mind in the least.

"Rose Tyler," he murmured against her hair, "I love you…"

Her soft snoring was the only response he received.

The Doctor was in the TARDIS.

No. "A" TARDIS. A war TARDIS. Type 103.

He saw the fighting around him. Daleks vs Time Lords vs anyone else who had been unfortunate enough to get in the way.

It was the death throes of the Time War. But this was not where he had been during those final days. Hours. Minutes. Seconds.

An explosion rocked the sky. The side of a mountain had been blasted away, debris falling upon Gallifrey in a hail of burning rock.

Such destruction.

An explosion from the TARDIS's control column knocked him off his feet, flames pouring forth uncontrollably. On the view screen, he could see tears opening in the very fabric of space.

His TARDIS was being pulled towards one of them.

He tried to stand up, scrambling for purchase as the ship rocked violently and started to fall apart at the seams.

He couldn't move. Something was surrounding him.

He suddenly felt his body grow old rapidly. So old. So quickly.

And he regenerated.

His body began to age once more.

He regenerated again.

The Doctor found himself in a time bubble. The TARDIS was distorting before his eyes. Growing old and worn just as he was.

Pain. Such pain.

Aging. Regeneration.

Over and over.

Temporal distortion of the worst kind. That was what it was.

One of the dangers of a time machine.

Aging. Regeneration.

It was too much, too fast. His body could not cope.

He couldn't stop it. Couldn't slow it down.

In moments, his body would overload, and he would become naught but dust.

But the TARDIS would live on, pulled through one of the many vacuous holes that had been torn in the space around him.

Pulled into nothingness just as Gallifrey disappeared from Time and Space.

The Doctor shot up in bed, gasping for air. The pain in his chest was…

… was non-existent.

One heart. No regenerations.

Same as it ever was.

Watching Gallifrey burn…. No… disappear… confused him. He saw the flames but… there should have been debris. Gases. Something to indicate it had been there in the first place.

In his dream, there was nothing. A ball of fire… then nothing.

Memories were funny. His brilliant mind had been damaged in the Time War along with his body. It coloured his memories and his dreams. How much worse would he have become if he had not met Rose when he did?

One thing he was sure of, was that Gallifrey's destruction was HIS fault. And he had time locked the war to make sure no one could go back and interfere.

Well, that brilliant plan failed miserably, he taunted himself.

The Doctor then furrowed his brow. What did you time lock it with? He asked himself. He ran his hands vigorously through his hair. What kind of key?

A key… there was a key…

The Doctor scrambled out of the bed and walked on shaky legs into the hallway. He looked back and forth, but saw no other soul awake in the Tyler household.

He couldn't go back to sleep. Not after that dream.

The Doctor quietly made his way to Rose's room and knocked gently. There was no answer. He knocked again, and still received no answer.

He slowly pushed the door opened only to see the bundle of blankets and shock of blond hair curled up into a ball.

"Rose?" he called out gently as he walked closer to the bed. He was greeted with silence.

With a sigh, he lay down on the empty side of the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

He would just wait until she woke then.

"You're here. Again…" Rose murmured as she rolled over in her bed to look at the Doctor lying beside her.

"Well, I-" he stopped. Perhaps I had a bad dream wasn't the best subject to delve into now. "… I wanted to make sure you were all right. Again." He answered quickly.

"Achy still, but it's not unbearable." Rose said as she inched closer to him. She rested her head on his chest and slid an arm around his narrow waist.

Upon hearing the thump of his single heart, she immediately felt her throat constrict. "You must be so lonely here. I should be helping you adjust better."

She felt his sigh as much as heard it. "I've been lonely for a long time, Rose. Here. There. Doesn't matter." He stroked her back. "You help me adjust just fine."

She pushed herself up over him and studied his face intently.

"What?" he asked.

She offered a small smile and shook her head. "You're so different…"

"New new NEW Doctor?" he raised an eyebrow. She didn't answer and the Doctor grew concerned. "When you say different, do you mean good different or bad different?"

"Good, I think. You never would have told me how you felt before."

"You always knew," he answered softly.

She met his eyes, "But it does need saying..."

"I had my reasons for not saying," he explained. "Weight of the Universe on my shoulders, along with that whole semi-immortal thing. Had to deal with everything alone." His tone grew softer. "If not for the meta-crisis…" he let the sentence trail off.

Rose was quiet for a moment. "At least he's got Donna now."

The Doctor glanced away, "No. He doesn't."

Rose looked concerned. "Why not?"

"It can't be. A Human/Time Lord meta-crisis? She would have burned up. No, she's not dead," he explained quickly, upon seeing her look of horror. "He would have taken it from her. He would have had to erase her memories of travelling. Of the TARDIS. Of us." He shook his head, "I mean them. She's probably back temping now, none the wiser."

"But that's not fair!" Rose protested.

"Her head exploding would have been less fair, Rose."

She closed her eyes and let out a resigned breath. She then opened her eyes again and looked worried, "But you…! You're the same!"

"No, I'm not," he corrected. "I'm a Time Lord/Human meta-crisis – amazing what a difference the placement of words make."

Rose furrowed her brow, not quite getting the difference.

"Let me explain," the Doctor began, "Donna was a low-level computer upgraded beyond her capabilities. I'm a high-level computer downgraded to less than what I was." He shrugged. "That's the best comparison I can make."

Rose understood. "So he's alone again." It was a statement, not a question.

The Doctor was silent for a moment, then raised a hand and ran his fingers through her hair. "Are we okay?" he asked hesitantly. "I mean… me not being him. Is that okay?"

"That depends," she answered.

He grew concerned, "On what?"

"If you'll let me kiss you."

His eyes went wide, "Oh! I… well… yes?"

Rose slowly brushed her lips against his. He closed his eyes and savoured the moment. He waited for a second kiss, lips now parted, tongue eager to dart out.

"You have to go to work," Rose said instead.

The Doctor's eyes flew open, "What?" he had been hoping for more than that. "You… you're not going to kiss me again?"

"Work now," she repeated.

"Will you kiss me goodbye before I walk out the door then?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't that be too domestic for you?"

"Well, some domestics aren't so bad." The Doctor conceded.

Rose laughed and shoved him playfully off the bed.

The Doctor gracefully found his feet and headed to his room to dress.

The goodbye kiss he eventually received from Rose was all he had needed to have a very good day indeed.