Haven't beta-ed this yet, and there is tons of dialogue in this chapter. Let me know if it is too convoluted.
"The future is no more malleable than the past." Said the Doctor, starting to detach himself from the situation. A large hologram in the center of the module displayed the scan they had taken from inside the fissure. It showed an unknown creature wrapped around itself, encased in its egg, preparing to hatch and potentially destroy the Earth in the process. It was eerily beautiful.
"Ok, don't you do this to make some kind of point." She could tell that Clara was becoming cross with him for putting this entirely on her shoulders, rightfully so. Killing the moon would be a heavy decision for anyone to make.
"Sorry. Well, actually, no, I'm not sorry. It's time to take the stabilisers off your bike. It's your moon, womankind. It's your choice." How could he say that? He had spent countless years on the Earth. It was his moon too, whether or not he claimed it.
Clara must have been thinking the same thing. "And you're just going to stand there? Rose, can you reason with him?"
When he was acting like this, there was little she could do to control him, but she would try. "We have to help..."
"Absolutely not." He cut her off just as the Tardis arrived in the shuttle behind them. A very confused 15 year old girl emerged, looking for comfort from her teacher.
"Doctor?"
"A teenager, an astronaut and a schoolteacher." He pushed Courtney toward Lundvik and Clara, apparently content that he had a large enough sample of the human race to make such an important decision.
"Hang on a minute. We can get in there, can't we? You can sort it out with that thing". Poor Lundvik, she was quick to catch on, but not quick enough to reason with the Doctor. Rose sincerely hoped she wouldn't detonate the nuclear warheads surrounding them in the module, but she didn't know her well enough to be sure.
"We should be able to…". Rose tried once more to interject, but once more she was cut off.
"No. Some decisions are too important not to make on your own. Come on Rose." The stubborn Time Lord strode into his ship without looking back.
"And where do you think you're going?" Rose chased him into Tardis, intent on bringing him back to face the problem after he had calmed down a bit.
"Doctor? Doctor!" They heard Clara yelling as the ship dematerialized.
VWOORP... VWOORP... VWOORP...
"We're going to Henrick's now... That's the location you gave them isn't it? Ah, you left a sticky note on the console with the coordinates, that makes things simple." Pulling the appropriate levers and pushing the corresponding buttons for travel, he kept his face stoic.
"Now? A right arse, you are! Just leaving them to die!" Removing her spacesuit was proving to be difficult, as frustrated as she was. She abruptly yanked off the the ugly yellow suit and donned her (current) favorite jacket and gloves.
"I am doing nothing of the sort. This is their decision to make, not mine. Clara can handle it." His arms were folded and he scowled, she knew that expression all too well. He would not budge on this issue.
"You know what I think... I think you've gone and done it this time. We'll be lucky if she's not finished with us for good after what you said... Bike stabilizers... You prat."
"I was always going to go back and get them... Honestly, what do you take me for?"
"You're damn right you're going back to get them!" On the external monitor she saw her guest approaching. She opened the door to leave but the Doctor stopped her by catching her elbow.
"Wait... Rose, I didn't mean this as an insult to her... It was meant to show respect for her independence."
"Fat lot of respect that was, did you even see her face? Clara means as much to you as she does to me, and you're going to lose her if you don't treat her better."
"I suppose this version of me might be somewhat short on tact." He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'll work on it, for Clara... For you."
"Thank you." Rose hugged him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Right then, I'm going to go talk to our guest over there, before she thinks us rude. She has enough on her plate without having to watch us bicker too... But afterwards we are going to go get those girls."
"Yes, of course... I'll be just inside the Tardis if you need me."
...
Rose had stepped out of the Tardis, and into the storeroom below Henrick's Department store. Instinctively, she whipped her head around looking for any living plastic or mannequins, but there were none current visible. This must have been taking place before the incident with the Autons, she thought to herself... Before she had met the Doctor... She felt her heart clench with nostalgia. This was where he had first taken her hand, and she had never let go.
Whomever this mystery Time Lord was, they clearly had intimate knowledge of her relationship with the Doctor. Was choosing this location to meet intended for easing her fears? Around the corner she heard two voices arguing. Following the sound, she discovered another blue police box idling in an alcove. She supposed that she should have been surprised, but for some reason she wasn't.
The woman exiting the vessel had her same hazel eyes, her same thick eyelashes, and her same full lips… But her hair showed more of her natural color and small wrinkles were forming in the corners of her eyes. Her face might have been a bit leaner too. The black leather jacket and driving gloves she wore would have made her look more world weary and hardened, if she weren't grinning brightly from ear to ear. On some level Rose had always known this would happen, Bad Wolf had designed it this way intentionally.
"Sorry about that. We don't usually argue, but it's a tense situation we're in at the moment." The older woman approached and embraced her like they were long lost sisters.
"It's alright... I don't... I mean... You're me! I can't believe you're me! I have so many questions! Like why were you inside the moon?"
"We were trying to help an astronaut decide whether or not to kill the giant creature living inside the moon... But I've said too much, best not to know too much of your own future, yeah? Just know that you will accompany the Doctor to the moon in 2049 and you'll need to recreate that note I gave you."
"Kill the moon? But it's still there after 2049, right? I've been to the future, and I think it was still there..."
"That's exactly what I said! Oh never mind... I believe you have something of mine?"
"Really? This is your Rassilon something-something chain?" She held out the silver trinket she had been carrying.
"External Rassilon Imprimatur Containment System? Yes it is! Thank you so much for returning it." The older version of herself took the chain and examined it as it twisted and turned hanging from her fingertips.
"But the Doctor said that this would be bound to the maker, and that the maker would have to be a Time Lord."
"True, but with hard work and dedication, it can also be created by the long term apprentice to the most brilliant Time Lord of them all. Don't tell him I said that, though, we'd never hear the end of his ego."
It was otherworldly hearing multiple versions of own her laugh ringing through the air at once, someone else must have thought so too because a grey haired gentleman with bushy eyebrows popped his head out of the older Tardis. Rose knew immediately in her heart that this was the future incarnation of her Doctor, and she smiled at him. Comforting to know that she would be able to recognize him, no matter what body he was in.
"I hear canoodling. What are you up to?" His baritone voice sounded paranoid.
"Nothing!" They both replied in unison.
"For some reason, I don't believe you. I think I'll just stand right here, to make sure you two don't bollocks anything up… Two Roses, that can mean nothing but trouble." He said, which prompted the rolling of two sets of hazel eyes. Was this future Doctor always so grumpy? "Well carry on then, pretend that I'm not even here."
Turning her attention back to the older Rose, she asked: "So, how did you… I mean, I... make this?"
"You will have centuries to study it. When the time comes, you'll know how to make it… That reminds me…" The older Rose fished around in the pocket of her jacket. "Make sure you have the Doctor give you transdimensional pockets, by the way… So much better than a purse… Aha!" She pulled out another chain. At first glance it looked identical to the one they had just been discussing, but this one was brand new and unmarred by use. It was also lacking the flickering silver life force running through it.
"Is that..."
"Yep, this one is yours… well… mine, sort of… will become mine. Crossing timelines is a pain when it comes to proper verb tense and pronouns. Anyways, this is the one I just finished making for you. Give me your wrist."
The younger Rose held out her arm, still baffled at how she had (will have?) created such a captivating piece. With a buzz from the older Rose's sonic pen, the chain was fastened to her left wrist. She turned it over and over again, marveling at the craftsmanship. There was no clasp that she could find, otherwise she might have know that this was a bracelet to begin with.
"Where is the clasp?"
"There isn't one. It will never come off or break. Not that you should try to take it off anyway. It will become fused with your timeline, with your very existence." With that, she reattached the more worn bracelet back onto her left wrist. "Ah, much better!"
"Then how did you lose yours? What happens to us if it is off?"
"There is a great story for how I lost it in Norway!... Unfortunately I can't tell it to you."
"Aww… come on."
"Don't want to ruin the surprise! But I can tell you what happens when it is off. Once it is activated, it will aid in keeping your mind young and organized. The human mind is not meant to handle the complexities of traveling through time and space for centuries… Let me explain it this way… When a Time Lord dies, all that remains is an undulating, morphing, scar of a time stream… It looks a bit like lightning or raw energy… It represents all the choices they made in their life, all the paths they took, all of connections they made… Their timeline is a part of their physiological existence. We do not have the capability to maintain that structure within our brain cells, so this bracelet does it for us… Think of it as an external hard drive."
"Cool!"
"It is pretty cool… But when it was off, my brain started to age. Some of my memories were no longer sharp and clear. They became more fuzzy and intangible, like a waking dream. I might not gain the clarity of those memories back, but at least I wont lose any more now that you've brought it back. When you do lose it, take comfort in knowing that a younger version of yourself will bring it back to you."
"How old are you anyway?"
"Blimey! I have no idea to be honest. You know how time is on the Tardis… Probably for the best, I wouldn't want to know at this point... Lets just say really old, multiple centuries"
"Wow, you look great…. Wait, you just said that the bracelet helps keep your mind young… What about your body, how is that not aging either?"
"Oh, uh… well… Bad Wolf rewired us a bit." The older woman wound a strand of hair around her finger and the younger woman realized that she had been doing the very same thing absentmindedly.
"But we're not Time Ladies. Otherwise we wouldn't need the bracelet, yeah?"
"No… Not Time Ladies… Bad Wolf created this paradox so that we could become a good mate for the Doctor. That also entailed rewiring part of our brain so that we could experience telepathy… and enhancing our neural receptors to be more attuned to … er… the Doctor's biology."
"What do you mean by enhanced neural receptors?"
"So, remember when the Doctor told you that 'regenerative energy was needed for Gallifreyan conception'?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
Obviously the older Rose was having a hard time wording this politely. "Essentially, when he 'makes love' to you… us… we absorb that regenerative energy into the cells of our nervous system, and it is broadcast through out our bodies. Ultimately, it keeps our bodies from aging at a normal rate. We are still aging, but very slowly."
"That must be why I started glowing! So basically, the more I shag the Doctor, the longer I will live?" The younger Rose had no issue with being a little crass.
"Exactly!"
"That's hysterical! 'Oi, Doctor, you better shag me, or I might shrivel up into a wrinkled old bag lady'." Her smile faded when she was struck with self-doubt regarding the implications. That would be putting a lot of pressure on their fledgeling sex life. "How often do we need to 'make love' for that system to work? What if he gets bored of me? What if we have a fight that lasts too long? How long is too long between shags?"
"Don't get hung up on the frequency of your intimacy, ok? It's been many many many years and that hasn't been an issue. Trust me, that will not be an problem for you guys."
"Even with Mr. Curmudgeon over there?" Both Roses laughed whole-heartedly.
"Hey now!… He might not be quite as foxy as the model you're with now… or the one after that… but he is still just as feisty, I assure you. Mr. Curmudgeon and I are still very happy together." She whispered. Then she called to him: "Isn't that right schmoopy snuggly pooky bear?" The Doctor grumbled something inaudible and sighed. The Roses burst back into gales of laughter.
"So how come my bracelet isn't all shimmery like yours?"
"It's not activated yet."
"How do I activate it?" She turned her wrist again to admire her new accessory.
"Please don't worry about that. The event that activates it is going to happen soon, I can feel it… I'm not going to lie, it will be traumatic. All paradoxes come at a price… Tell me, what would you be willing to pay to get your forever with the Doctor?"
"If you're me, you already know the answer to that."
Rose smiled sadly and gave the younger version of herself a hug. "Goodbye Rose, thank you again for returning my bracelet… Remember… be strong, for him."
"Always."
...
After making her way back through the storeroom, she found her dear pinstriped Doctor waiting for her in the doorway of the Tardis. All smiles, he was, especially when he caught sight of her new bracelet. He rocked on the heels of his plimsoles. "How'd it go?"
"Good! Brilliant actually! But why didn't you want to come with me?"
"I've met myself enough times to know that it usually ends in disaster. Additionally, this paradox you've created is very fragile. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I was the one to ruin it. I hope you understand."
He escorted her inside and they both flopped down on the jump seat. Rose recapped her meeting with her future self for the Doctor: The bracelet, how she would make it, and how she wouldn't age in body or mind... "So there's something I don't understand though."
"Hmm? What's that?"
"If your jizz has so much regenerative energy, why not utilize it in emergency situations?"
His brown eyes sprung open. If he had been drinking something, Rose was sure he would have spit it out in a comical fashion. "Rose Marion Tyler, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?!"
"I kiss you too, incase you forgot." Said Rose, as she put her hands on her hips. "But I'm serious! Not like 'wank on someone in the moment', but carry around a little vial in your pocket."
"Do you have some weird hang up with me wanking into test tubes?"
"I'm not suggesting you should bottle it and sell it to little old ladies as anti-wrinkle cream… but if someone was mortally wounded… you could… ya know." She mimed the action of pouring out her suggested vial, and the Doctor looked absolutely mortified.
"No, no, and no… Number one, eww. I have class and a sense of propriety… Number two, the advantages of carrying that around are greatly outweighed by the risk of it falling into the wrong hands. You know... someone trying to create a Time Lord cross-breed or something… And three, It doesn't work like that. It is meant to work on one cell, the zygote. The fact that it can prolong your life is an anomaly unique unto to you... But there isn't enough energy in it to heal or cure anything. It's not... It's not..." He was waving his hand around in circles, as if he were searching for the right word to use.
"Potent enough?" Rose offered mischievously.
"Oi! Watch your phrasing! I'll have you know that there is nothing wrong with my potency."
"Hah! Alright, alright... Your masculinity is not in question here." She giggled.
"Let us never speak of that again, shall we?"
"Fine... Oh! Being at Henrick's reminded me, I think we should go check in with Mum next. When we last chatted, she was carrying on about Granddad visiting her..."
"I dont see the problem."
"Granddad passed away years ago."
"Ah… You're right, that is suspicious. Next stop, Jackie Tyler." He sounded terribly relieved to no longer be talking about 'jizz'. Relieved enough to agree to visit her Mum, so long as it changed the subject.
