"Rose River" AU:
'Athenaeum'
Chapter Seven
A/N: The muses have become confused, so I'm back at the helm.
The Doctor was nearly to the kitchen when he had to duck back. A teacup flew through the door to shatter on the wall. He peeked in to hear John shout. "Fuck calm! I want them all to die!"
That's what Rose said, The Doctor thought as he entered the room. John was standing with his back to the door, breathing heavily. Kuri had a patient look, and saw The Doctor as he came in. Kuri gave him a slight shake of the head, so he stopped in the doorway.
"You know full well that I cannot authorize such an action," Kuri said rather calmly. "Legalities aside, would you really want all the deaths of those who had nothing to do with this?"
The Doctor interrupted. "John, you can stop now." Kuri cringed at him, and John spun around at the new target for his ire.
"And you! When the hell are we going to find River, Hmm?" John's eyes were black, wild, and unfocused. "It's like you enjoy watching me suffer, you bastard!"
The Doctor recoiled from the verbal assault, but tried to reason with him. "John... Let go! Rose is asleep and Jenny's tended and sedated. You don't have to do this anymore!" He now deeply regretted sending him the image of Jenny's back.
"No. Nuh-uh. Sod it," John said, shaking his head. "You're not getting outta that. When are we going after her, eh?" John took a step towards him, and the Doctor realized that a fist fight was about to break out.
"I'm so sorry," the Doctor said, closing his eyes. With a mental yank, John's connection to him and his wife broke suddenly.
"You best be sor- Oh!" John was about to let loose some Venushian Akido and a Noble drop kick, but the snap of their mental connection hit him like a slap in the face. He wobbled slightly, right before fainting outright.
His brother caught him before he hit the floor. Kuri helped him put John on the couch. "How long has he been like this?" he asked Kuri.
"Almost since we left the infirmary, but I think the TARDIS helped a bit," Kuri said. "Logically, that had to be who that woman was, unless of course there are other people on board."
The Doctor stood up, forcibly squashing down the waves of anger that he was feeling. He blew out a breath and shook his head at Kuri. "No one here besides us. It must've been the TARDIS avatar."
Retrieving another teacup, he sat at the table with Kuri. "How much was he able to tell you?"
Kuri filled their cups. "Spoke mostly about a woman named Donna, and how he was created. I must say, that was rather handy," he smirked.
The Doctor groaned. "I can't believe you just said that."
Kuri chuckled. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself, there."
Jenny opened her eyes to see a brilliantly orange sky. "Oh." She was lying down on the same hill that she dreamed with her parents, but she didn't know that yet. Feeling an arm around her waist and a hand on her forehead, she turned and looked up to see who she was lying on. She was surprised to see that same woman, her mum. Boy, is that going to take some getting used to, or what?
"Hi there," Rose said with a smile. She let go when Jenny turned to sit up. "I realize we're dreaming, but how do you feel?" She tapped her own forehead. "You know, up here?"
Jenny thought for a bit, and could only come up with, "Different."
"Good different, bad different?" Rose said, grinning at the thought of a similar conversation while on an asteroid turned spaceship.
"Good, I think," Jenny said. "I can think a lot more clearly, so that's good. Did all of that really happen, or did I sleep through the execution?"
They were now sitting cross legged under the tree. Rose nodded. "Yeah, it happened and you're not dead. You are in a bad way, but we took care of a lot of what they did to you." She frowned. "Got rid of those scars and that bloody tattoo that was on your back."
"Oh?" Jenny involuntarily hugged herself and shivered.
Rose ran a hand up and down Jenny's arm. "You really are all right now. We sedated you so you wouldn't feel it when we removed your tattoo. Had to burn it off then heal it with a dermal mender, but you're fine now. Going to have to eat a lot for a while, but I think that'd be good for you. You're rail thin."
Jenny looked around, but got distracted by her pony tail. Reaching up, she pulled it around so she could look at it. "Oh, I missed that," she said with a frown.
"They cut it, I take it?" Rose asked. When Jenny nodded, she smiled. "We can fix that easy. You're father's got this device that makes hair grow rather fast. Had to use it once on me, when my hair got all done up with sticky thickets. Ooh, that was a nightmare."
Jenny smirked. "What happened, had to cut them out?"
Rose nodded. "Yeah. Half of my head was short hair. It was ghastly. Told him to do the whole thing, so when he made it grow out again I could bleach it all in one go and have it look the same."
Jenny tilted her head. "Not a natural blond?"
Rose shook her head, then thought about it. "Wasn't, but that might be up for debate now. Haven't had to do my roots in a while, and they should be due. Had a bit of an accident, so that partial regeneration might've made me blond."
"What's that?" Jenny asked with a confused look.
"That's what happens when we die. Our bodies sort of explode, and anything that's broken gets fixed," Rose explained.
Jenny looked down at the red grass. "So that's why I woke up on that table."
"Yeah," Rose said. "But, you and I seem to be the only two to have it happen without it changing our entire appearance. Usually, hair, face, height, and even personality changes with it. With you, it just fixed that bullet wound. And with me, it made me a couple of inches taller, and maybe a natural blonde."
At that moment, a grey suited Doctor appeared some ten feet away from them. He spun about in confusion, then located Rose and Jenny sitting at the base of a tree. Rose pointed him out, and Jenny turned around. "Hello there," he said rather sheepishly.
Jenny watched him walk over and plop down next to them. She looked at Rose. "How can you tell them apart?
"I can always tell," Rose said while tapping her forehead. "But until you can, just look at what they wear. John here likes to wear greys and greens, sometimes orange. Your father on the other hand, likes wearing brown and sometimes blue."
"Yeah, and your mother likes pinks and purples," John said rather flippantly. That got an arm whapped. "What? You do."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I doubt she'll get confused with me."
"Just saying," John said.
Kuri and the Doctor spent more time catching up than Kuri's subordinates liked, and eventually had to part company. He transmatted Kuri back, with the promise that they would come when called for the trial. Instead of waiting for the call, he had the TARDIS relay any messages that they would be sending, and found one. And of course, the defense wanted Rose to testify.
