Chapter 7
The rest of the morning had turned out better than the Doctor had expected. Shopping it seemed, was not as excruciatingly painful as he had once imagined. He sat with Jake outside a small coffee shop sipping a banana milkshake happily as his three other companions had excused themselves to shop for more intimate apparel in another store a little further up the street.
The Doctor had managed to purchase everything from hair care products and tooth paste to several tailored suits and new trainers, even managed to procure a coat owned by one Janis Joplin. He was quite impressed with himself indeed. Rose had felt the need to also acquire what she called 'homey touches' for their apartment, which was fine with him, especially when she had made no arguments in securing a very old set of encyclopaedia's, the complete works of Charles Dickens, the Immortal Nicholas Flamel as well as practically every other book in the store. The Doctor turned his attention back to Jake who appeared to be fretting slightly in the absence of Martha.
"So," The Doctor grinned. "You and Martha, congratulations."
"How did you know..." Jake began.
"It's a rather impressive stone Jake, I'm surprised it wasn't noticed from orbit."
"Yea, it is a bit big," Jake laughed. "But it's what she deserves. Spent all that time waitin' for me to get over Ricky. Then all the stars were goin' out, thought I'd never see her again, so I made a promise to myself that if we got out of it alive, I'd make her my first priority, showed her properly how much she means to me."
"Good for you Jake." The Doctor smiled, the significance of the statement weighing heavily in the back of his mind. "So have you set a date yet?"
"We talked about it this morning and agreed the sooner the better." He said sucking on his straw loudly. "Thought Christmas would be a perfect time for it, was gonna ask Jacks if we could use the gardens."
"That sounds brilliant." The Doctor enthused. "I love weddings, probably be better if you relax the dress code though, bad things happen when I wear a tux."
"Yea I remember." Jake laughed. "Lucky for us she only wants something simple. Small ceremony, friends, flowers and cake. You know all the good bits." Jake turned serious for a moment.
"She has no family Doctor." He said quietly. "They were all killed last time you were here."
"I know." The Doctor replied solemnly. "But we'll make sure she knows she still has people that care for her. I'm sure Pete would have no hesitation in volunteering to give her away?"
"I'm sure you're right Doctor," Jake agreed, "But I think she'd prefer it if you did it."
"Me?" He snorted. "She hardly knows me, I don't think-"
"You gave her hope." Jake stopped him. "It helped Martha heal a little, to hold on to the idea that there was someone out there making sure what happened to her didn't tear someone else's family apart. Without that hope I don't think she could have survived. "
The Doctor nodded and murmured around his shake. "I'll take care of it Jake."
Fifteen minutes and two smoothies later Jake and the Doctor were exchanging stories about some of the situations Rose had managed to get herself into when the woman in question turned up with Donna and Martha in tow.
"Should I be worried?" She queried cautiously, her question answered as the Doctor fell off his chair in hysterics. It took a few moments for him to regain his composure. Long enough for the three women to order themselves a cup of coffee and settle themselves around the table.
"So is that about it?" Rose asked sipping her drink carefully as she looked round the table.
"Think so," Donna sighed. "As much as I love a good shop, I have to say I'll be glad once we're done at Tesco's and on our way home."
"Oh right." Rose groaned. "I forgot about food."
"That's not the half of it," Jake grumbled, "You wait till all that crap arrives tomorrow."
They sat in a silent dread as they finished their drinks, watching as the sun receded behind the London landscape. Rose was the first to gather her bags; she really wished that their last store had offered a home delivery service like all the others.
"Right, Tesco's then home yea." She sighed. The others stood and followed her out of the coffee shop and across the road. An hour later Donna called for a car. Their groceries destined for home sometime later in the evening.
Rose had almost forgotten about the load of ex-Torchwood goods coming up from Cardiff and once home had rushed off to let the truck into the underground garage. She appeared half an hour later, thankful that the Doctor had suggested getting another key for the lift cut.
She found him in the kitchen unpacking the seemingly endless bags of groceries and distributing the items to either the pantry or the fridge. She stood grinning at the voluntary display of domestics.
"I know you're there Rose." She could hear the smirk in his voice and laughed softly. He turned around and grinned at her. She helped him unpack the rest and ten minutes later they flopped down together in the middle of the sofa as the last empty bag was finally tossed into the garbage. They sat silently watching the last traces of the afternoon sun disappear on the horizon.
"I'm starving." The Doctor admitted after a loud grumble from his stomach.
"I'm exhausted." Rose breathed before an equally expressive sound emerged from her own stomach.
"Chinese?" Rose asked leaning her head back against the sofa. He nodded before shooting a look at the bathroom door.
"Oh I like the way you think Doctor." She grinned. "I'll phone for dinner." He was already on his feet and snatching one of his bags from the floor near the lift before he disappeared behind the bathroom door.
She shuffled across the lounge and grinned at the sounds of running water and Madam Butterfly emanating from the room as she passed it, chuckling loudly as his voice broke as he approached a particularly high part.
Rose found the majority of the bags she had bought home had made their way into the master bedroom. She sorted through a few of them quickly gathering her toiletries, the bag from the lingerie shop and her brand new pair of pyjamas.
She set the bathtub to fill, dumping an exceptional amount of salts, bubble bath and oils into it while she stripped down. After pulling some towels from her bag she dialled a takeaway not too far away and ordered an assortment of everything, not exactly sure what she felt like, and knowing full well the Doctor would want to try it all. After a few minutes she shut off the faucet and gently slipped into the hot soothing water. She smiled as the song of the baby TARDIS in the next room reached her, humming happily away from her pool to a song Rose had heard in the shops earlier.
The Doctor was busily shampooing his hair when he stopped abruptly mid lather and grinned as the coral reached out to his mind, already attempting to form the bond which would later assist him to pilot. He rinsed his hair and marvelled at human innovation as the water shut off as he stepped out of the cubical. He towelled dry and after throwing on a pair of pyjamas and dressing gown, slipped through Rose's room and out onto the terrace. He ignored the slight stabbing sensation of the quartz and made a mental note to perhaps purchase some sort of slippers for all those occasions that don't require trainers. He crouched down next to pool.
"Hello there." He whispered and its hum brightened and sang to him, making him chuckle.
"Where did you hear that then?" He queried, wondering where it could have picked up the Twelve Days of Christmas, when an image of Rose flashed across his vision.
"Oh." He breathed, ignoring the half naked soaking image of his companion it had shared.
"You're coming along a lot faster than I'd expected." He felt a distinct and indeed very feminine hum that made him chuckle.
"Well what do ya know eh? Rose was right." He sat down rolling his pant legs up, and dipped his legs into the warm water.
This is where Rose found him after she had dressed and gone down to the lobby to collect their dinner. She smiled softly at his back as he sat on the edge of the pool mid techno-babble rant. She stood watching him for a time as he spoke.
"And that is why the answer is quite obviously the chicken, but enough about that for now, dinner is here and our Rose is waiting for me," He glanced across at her leaning in the doorway and gave her a little wave.
He stood up and followed her into the living room, watching as she sorted the little packages of food out onto the Ottoman in front of the sofa, and sat down unsheathing her chop sticks. He noticed her infinitesimal shiver and after a bit of adjusting and a little help from the sonic screwdriver, he lit the fire spreading a gentle glow and warmth throughout the room.
"Mmmm, much betta." Rose grinned around a mouthful of egg roll. She was brilliant his Rose, and right now he wasn't sure if she had ever looked as beautiful as she did sitting cross legged on the floor in a still frightfully pink coloured pair of pyjamas with pandas eating bamboo on them, no make-up, hair messed and still slightly damp with traces of black bean sauce across her chin. He chuckled and sat down as she self consciously wiped a hand across her face.
"What?" She frowned.
"Nothing." He laughed stuffing food into his mouth with a groan of delight.
"Oh my god this is fantastic." He exclaimed shovelling more in. "Rose you should try this." She stuck her chop sticks into the packet in front of him and stuffed it into her own mouth.
"You're right." She grinned then stabbed a spring roll and held it out in front of his face, he took a bite and chewed it thoughtfully.
"Interesting use of ginger there." He nodded happily, eagerly continuing to sample from some of the other boxes.
"I met the ginger you, ya know Doctor." She smirked taking another mouthful.
"Really?" He asked excitedly. "That was a brilliant regeneration, well most of it anyway."
"Definitely a charmer that one." She replied almost dreamily.
"What and this one isn't?" The Doctor snorted gesturing to the length of his torso.
"Yea," She laughed, "But he was different, I don't know how to explain it."
"I nearly didn't regenerate that time," He supplied. "I got shot in San Francisco and they tried to operate on my seventh body, the anaesthetic stunted the process, perhaps that's why he was slightly more psychic than most of my others." He was thoughtful then shrugged proceeding to stuff more food in his mouth. "A near death experience." He wriggled his eyebrows ominously.
"Well that explains a few things then." She laughed reaching into another bag on the floor and pulling out two sodas.
"How's that then?" He enquired, taking a large gulp of his drink.
"Recognised me." She replied. "Well sort of, see he tried to explain it even though he weren't really the right you but he said that the parallels would carry a sor' of residual memory of those in the other universes, apparently I just registered as...I don't remember wha' he called me." She frowned.
"A familiar." The Doctor supplied taking another large scoop of shrimp and rice into his mouth.
"Yea that's it." She grinned. "He helped me to try and narrow down the randomness of the jumps to the twelve closest to wha' he could work out to be sorta like the prime universe. Used my energy signature."
"He was a good man that one, one of the very best." He said seriously.
"Oh, I almost forgot." She began pulling the chain around her neck out from under her singlet and fiddled with the clasp. "He gave me this, to give it to you when we finally caught up." She handed him a small diamond set into a silver pendant. "He said it was important."
"And he was right." The Doctor stared at the gem in his palm. "It's a white point star." He noticed her frown. "It's a very, very precious diamond only found on my home world." She nodded but stayed silent.
"I'd wondered where I'd put this." He mused then glanced up at Rose who stopped sucking in a noodle and stared at the look on his face. "It appears you weren't just jumping universes Rose." She gulped, nearly choking on her meal.
"But how is that even possible?" She whispered.
"I'm not sure how you managed to jump time streams, but you said so yourself, many of the differences were the linear progression of time." He stopped ranting to take another drink of soda. "Tell me about the others."
"Well, one was very stuffy and rude and lectured me about the laws of time," The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Two was a little less abrasive but seemed more interested in his recorder until I mentioned the Brigadier. Ummm, three and four were different to say the very least, oh and love the scarf by the way," She grinned and he beamed at her. "Five I think is another of my favourites, he was wonderfully helpful, met him twice even He remembered me too."
"I met him myself not too long ago, our TARDISes collided and merged together, nearly caused a spot of Belgian bother." He grinned then frowned. "Don't know what I was thinking with the celery though."
"I thought he was wonderful." Rose laughed, nibbling on a bean. "And I heard that the celery was more than just decorative so leave him alone."
"Rose Tyler, defending my dress sense throughout time and space." He teased and copped a fortune cookie to the face for his efforts.
"I refuse to comment on six, partly because I only saw him briefly and really, what we're you thinking?" He shook his head as if pondering the same thing. "Um, seven seemed very gentlemanly but again only met him for a few moments. Met eight as I said already, then met him a second time when he gave me that." She nodded to the diamond still in his right hand. She looked down at her box of Chinese.
"Meeting Nine again was hard, he was travelling alone, never met me it seemed." He could tell that had been heartbreaking for her. And himself too when he thought about it, imagining not having ever met Rose to him was just wrong. Nearly as devastating as him never meeting Donna. She looked up at him, a tear in her eye. "He died saving me from accidentally walking in front of a bus. Refused to regenerate." She laughed ironically. "The oncoming storm collected by an oncoming bus."
He winced but didn't press her about it further. Truth be known he probably would have refused too if he hadn't met her.
"When I finally got back to the right universe, I met Donna just as you picked her up." She laughed. "I was the one she told to tell her mum where her keys were."
"So close." He whispered.
"But so far away, wasn't the right time." She drained her can of drink and stuffed it back into the bag. He nodded, eyes never leaving her face.
"Tried to get a message through to the TARDIS but I must have just missed you." She sighed. "Then the next jump I found you. But I was too late. Donna's parallel had split off."
"Unit and I spent months working to try and sort that out. Had to keep jumping back and forth to convince Donna of what had to be done. I sent so many people to their deaths in that time line Doctor. Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Tosh, Owen, Sarah Jane, Martha, even Donna, but what else could I do without you there to do what you do." They were both silent.
"Funny thing is," Rose laughed humourlessly. "I don't think it was a coincidence that I was trapped here."
"What makes you say that?" The Doctor questioned softly.
"Time moves faster here remember." She replied and he nodded. "You of all people know what it's like to live through something more than once." The Doctor took a sharp intake of air in realisation.
"There were no Time Lords in this universe Doctor." She sighed. "But apparently it deems a companion of one a fair substitute. Its way of compensating was to drop me in the thick of it. Just kept walkin' into trouble."
"Not much has changed then." He teased lightly, glad to see a smile grace her features.
"Shut up you." She scolded playfully. "Thing is, if I hadn't been here, they would have targeted me, and if the universe had split off any sooner, the results would have been catastrophic." He looked away then.
"I knew." Was his quiet response. "Not the specifics but..."
"I thought as much." Rose gave him a small smile and looked back to her half eaten noodles, turning them over in the box before taking a mouthful. She watched him silently pondering while she chewed.
"So many things happened while you were gone Rose, things that," He scratched his head irritably. "Things that I'm ashamed of, and things that if you'd been there and been damaged or lost, would have been the death of me regardless of regeneration." She said nothing as he continued.
"I wanted to die." He admitted. "I was reckless at the best of times, even demanded a Dalek shoot me down, with no regard for Martha what so ever. Travelling with me broke her spirit, her heart, and the year that Never Was nearly killed her family and her." He was breathless. "And then Donna. Did you know that Pompeii was us? Me and Donna? And River Song she sacrificed herself for me." He shook his head disgusted. "And then there was Jenny," His face slipped from disgust to regret and sadness. "She was my daughter Rose, Donna named her because she was a genetic generation from a sample of my DNA, but oh you should have seen her, she was just like you. Blonde and so incredibly smart and beautiful. If Donna had met you before she would have had no doubt who her mother really was." He sat staring into the nothing. "She died." He breathed, mouth opening and closing in disbelieving recollection.
"Jenny's not dead Doctor." Rose interrupted quietly, breaking him out of his previous thought.
"I watched her die Rose, held her in my arms as she bled to death." He ground out bordering on anger.
"That's not what you said." Rose argued, adamant that he was wrong, and a little perturbed he hadn't let her finish.
"And tell me how could I have possibly told you if I-" She glanced down at her meal with a small smile on her lips as finally he caught on.
"Eleven." He breathed. "You said you'd seen Eleven-"
"Yes I did." Her she nodded and her smile widened.
"Jenny's alive!" He exclaimed happily, grinning like a loon.
"Anything else I should know?" He laughed as Rose began cleaning up.
"Well," Rose thought. "There was Jenny, oh and he said River, apparently isn't your wife." She smirked.
"It was merely a joke to rile you up." Rose smiled softly. "Someone had thought it incredibly funny at the time."
"Well that's not very nice, I mean who would do that?" The Doctor murmured irritably.
"Sounds like something Jack would do or-" His mouth slammed shut as he glanced at his companion, eyes widening at his own realisation.
His other self would never have disclosed his name to anyone even the small part of it River had whispered to him, purely because he had no intention of making a permanent bond with anyone, wouldn't have been possible to have the distraction with the weight of so much resting on his shoulder. Not even Rose would have been afforded one had she stayed, and he had loved her.
He would have been limiting his life-span, even if he had bound himself to her in his final regeneration. Besides the bond wouldn't have been possible to begin with, River was human, of that he was sure.
The fine hairs on the back of his neck prickled as their time lines bulged and splintered before his eyes, and his glance followed his companion around the kitchen.
It would appear that it was left to him to assure his past played out as it should. The implications of which astounded him to say the very least. He released a breath he didn't realise he was holding.
"You're quiet." Rose spoke from beside him. He was sure last time he had seen her she was in the kitchen.
"Sorry," He chuckled distractedly, "Must have spaced out." Rose made no response save a snort. He bumped his shoulder against her playfully, letting her know she had his full attention now. She handed him four remotes.
"How do ya suppose these work," She frowned up at him, "Or what they work?"
"Guess we'll just have to try them all." He shrugged. "Or not." He tossed three over the back of the couch and pulled the sonic screwdriver from the inside of his dressing gown.
"One remote to rule them all." He grinned as he soniced the device and pointed it towards the centre of the room, four things happening simultaneously.
A heavy white curtain erupted from the wall to their right and continued moving across the large window in front of them, a decent sized screen dropped from the ceiling and blared to life along with the stereo whose sound appeared to be coming from everywhere at once mixed with the television. Finally a vent opened in the ceiling above them pumping out air which the Doctor noted was at least 18 degrees colder than what was suitable for this time of year. He frowned and pointed the remote at the ceiling, shutting off the air-con, flicked it across his body to the left, ceasing the stereos violating high pitched drivel then back to the TV turning it down to an acceptable level for human consumption.
"Might need some fine tuning." He admitted thoughtfully.
"Should have just stuck with the sonic to begin with." Rose joked leaning her head against his shoulder. His slightly offended reply fell on sleeping deaf ears.
