Memories and the Master
Another chapter for you, my lovely readers. Thanks for the birthday greetings. I had a brilliant birthday and got a remote control dalek and a TARDIS minifridge. So very cool. Off to New York tomorrow which is so exciting but I'm missing Doctor Who! I'm very jealous of all you who can watch it on Saturday. It looks amazing, even without Rose! Thanks for the reviews for last chapter and I hope you like this one. I'll update again sometime over the Easter weekend when I'm home.
Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me
Part Nine: Friends
The next few days passed quickly but they were still no closer to finding the trigger. The Doctor and Rose had visited the places the Doctor had mentioned to Jackie but to no avail. They had briefly encountered Rose's history teacher at her college and the Doctor had explained the situation to her. She had seemed most upset and had told Rose to visit her as soon as her memories returned. If they did.
They were joined by Lauren and Kirsty four days after they'd begun searching, on a trip to the embankment of the Thames near to Canary Wharf. Matt didn't come along, which the Doctor found strange as he'd always known the young man to support Rose whenever he could.
"Has either of you two seen Matt recently?" the Doctor asked, as they were licking ice creams on a bench next to the river. It was a brilliantly sunny late June day and all four of them were feeling particularly hot.
"Nope," Lauren shook her head, "He always makes some excuse if we ask him if he wants to come over and see you."
Rose looked along the bench at her from where she was sitting next to the Doctor. She had made friends with both girls again- much to their delight- on the journey over. "Do you think it's 'cause he can't handle me?" she asked.
Kirsty shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe he's just taking it a bit worse than we are."
Rose nodded and went back to her ice cream. The Doctor said nothing, making a mental note to talk to Jack about the young man later that day. Matt's strange behaviour seemed to have started when he and Jack were alone together in the flat. Maybe something had happened then?
"C'mon," he said eventually, crunching up the remainder of his cone, "Let's go see if the trigger's here,"
"Why would it be here?" Rose asked, looking around, "I don't remember any of the stories you told me took place here,"
"We came here a few times," the Doctor explained, "On weekends and evenings, we sometimes went to the bars and stuff. It's only a slim hope but I'm running out of places in London to go to,"
"What's gonna happen then?" Rose asked,
"We go out in the TARDIS and try other places in the country. There's not that many," said the Doctor, "I'm only concentrating on London because that's where we spent a good part of the six years, one way or another,"
"OK," Rose said and continued to walk down the pavement with her friends.
"What's going on down there?" Lauren asked a couple of minutes later just before they came to a main road.
The Doctor shaded his eyes and saw a large crowd surrounding a black car that slid sleekly away from the pavement next to the tallest building around.
"I think it was Mr. Saxon!" Kirsty said in excitement, "It looked like him!"
"Wow!" Lauren said, "We've actually seen him in real life!"
"Yeah," Rose said, eyeing her two friends, "Have you two entered that competition?"
"Yeah!" Lauren said, sounding as if she couldn't believe Rose would ask such a silly thing, "Everyone's entered! I think his name is Max… Max Saxon, it has a nice ring to it!"
"I tried Alex," Kirsty said, "And also Daniel, Adam, Jack and Peter. I hope I win at least one of the runners up prizes!"
Rose looked at the Doctor warily and he shrugged, looking baffled. It seemed as if the whole country had gone Saxon-mad.
The sun was setting on the Powell Estate by the time the Doctor and Rose returned unsuccessfully home. They'd had dinner out with Kirsty and Lauren and just said goodbye to them before walking back.
"Do you wanna come into the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked, "You'll only need to sit down and look at some pictures for me,"
"OK," Rose nodded, rubbing her eyes and following him into the blue box. She had come in here a few times since she lost her memory, along with the Doctor, in order to pick up more clothes and other necessities. She knew the Doctor regularly came in here, as well as Jack, and that they both slept in here every night whilst she stayed in the flat. She liked exploring the enormous Time ship and would have gotten lost on more than one occasion, except for the Doctor always being there. She liked that about him.
The Doctor led her over to the long chair next to the main console and sat her down before fiddling with the controls. Suddenly, a picture flashed up on the screen in front of her of a plastic shop window dummy. Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Is that an Auton?" she questioned, intelligently,
"Yup," the Doctor said, grinning proudly, "Not the trigger then?"
Rose shook her head. "But what if I need to see the real thing?"
The Doctor shrugged. "We can do that if we really have to but seeing pictures is much easier," he explained, "Right, next one…"
Rose examined a ghostly like creature which sent shivers up and down her spine.
"The Gelth," the Doctor lectured, "Survive as gas." He glanced at Rose, who still looked blank but interested, before sighing and switching to the next picture. "Cassandra. Liked to call herself the 'last human' but all she was, was a bit of skin stretched over a frame and attached to a frame. We met her twice; once right after we met when we visited the end of the world and she tried to fry us all to death- I told you about that, do you remember?- and we met her again at New Earth where she eventually died in her own arms,"
"How?" Rose asked, looking perplexed.
The Doctor grinned. "We took her back to the last time anyone ever called her beautiful. It happened to be herself but in another's body, but that's Cassandra all over for you!"
"She sounds really nice. Quiet and humble," Rose joked.
The Doctor laughed before moving onto the next picture. "The Face of Boe; this time not an enemy alien. Legend has it next time we meet he'll impart a great secret to me. Haven't seen him since New Earth though and that was years ago!"
"What do you think the secret is?" his companion asked, curiously.
He shrugged. "I'm hoping he'll tell me how they make the bananas at Villengard taste so good!"
Rose rolled her eyes. He really did have an obsession with bananas!
The Doctor caught her action and grinned. "Bananas are good, Rose. Always remember that! Anyhow, next alien and it is… the Slitheen!"
The next hour passed pleasantly. Rose saw many different aliens, which she had supposedly seen in real life. She studied dinosaur like monsters called Reapers, human beings with a gas mask from the second world war welded to their skin, a werewolf, flying things called Krillitanes, ugly creatures called Sycorax- she remembered the Doctor mentioning how they'd all been murdered by the last Prime Minister-, clockwork robots, chillingly scary looking metal men called Cybermen and a green blob known as the Abzorbaloff. In addition, the Doctor grabbed her mobile phone off her and pointed out two tanned, dark haired humans, who were actually aliens called Ziola and a completely blue girl, who came from somewhere called Crespallion, who was joined in the photo by two other humanoids with white fur covering their bodies and slightly larger than average heads, called Piripians. It was slightly unreal but ever so interesting but none of them was the trigger.
"No luck there then," the Doctor sighed, "Never mind, we're getting closer all the time."
Rose nodded silently. She couldn't help feeling disappointed. She so very badly wanted to get her memories back.
"Do you fancy watching the security visuals from the dance we went to? We could then see who exactly drugged your drink, which might help," the Doctor asked her, "If you're bored, I don't mind if you want to go back to the flat; it's up to you,"
"I'll stay here," Rose decided, wanting to stay with him, "It's boring in the flat anyway. Mum's out at Bev's and I don't know where Jack is so I'll be alone,"
"Talk of the Devil," the Doctor muttered, as the door swung open and Jack walked in, whistling, "Hey stranger!"
Jack jumped and turned to look at them, with a grin. "Hey guys, having fun?"
"We've been looking at pictures of aliens we've encountered to see if any of them is the trigger," Rose told him, with a bright smile. She had spent some time with the ex-Time Agent over the last few days and they'd grown closer.
"Sounds cool," Jack said, "But no luck?"
She shook her head and shrugged.
"Never mind," he said, "D'ya want a cup of tea? I'm just about to make one,"
"Yeah, please," she nodded, "Thanks, Jack."
"My pleasure, honey," he grinned, before bounding energetically out of the control room. The Doctor looked after him.
"I just need to have a word with him about Matt," he told Rose, "You could start watching the visuals if you like?"
Rose nodded and he quickly explained how to work them; by saying forward, stop, play, pause or varying other words and the TARDIS would automatically play the films as she desired. Then, the Doctor quickly exited the room, leaving Rose on her own.
Unsurprisingly, the security visuals were deadly dull to watch and neither the Doctor nor Jack nor Rose could watch more than half an hour before almost falling asleep. As a result, they mixed watching them with outings out to different places. They spent the next few days exploring the last few places in London that the Doctor could think of but were entirely unsuccessful. The constant searching was beginning to wear Rose down but she refused to show weakness to the Doctor. It would be too embarrassing to break down in front of him, especially as the Time Lord never showed any emotion to her. Little did she know, however, that the Doctor was slowly falling into a pit of despair and spent most nights hugging a pillow that had her scent on and trying to keep back the odd stray tear. His hearts were slowly breaking.
On the last day of June, the Doctor whisked Rose off in the TARDIS to visit Cardiff as that was another place they had visited a lot. Lauren and Kirsty had begged to be allowed to come too, although why Rose didn't have any idea- Cardiff was just Cardiff after all-, and the Doctor had finally relented, allowing the two girls to experience their first trip in the TARDIS.
Back in London, Jack had a mission. It had been over a week since Matt had rushed out on him and no-one had seen hair nor hide of the young man since. After the Doctor had asked him after Matt a few days earlier, Jack had decided it was high time to force Matt to face his fears, so-to-speak.
So, as a result, he found himself marching down Beech Street where Matt lived and knocking on his front door.
"Can I help you?"
Jack looked at the brown haired woman in front of her. She looked to be in her late forties and had laughter lines scattered all over her face. Jack warmed to her on sight.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he said, politely, "Is Matt in?"
She looked slightly suspicious. "Who wants to know?"
"My name is Jack; I'm a friend of Matts',"
"Oh!" Matt's mother's face cleared. "You're Jack? Pleased to meet you; Matt's spoken of you often. I'll just call him."
Jack nodded his thanks and stood back as she called for her son. After about thirty seconds, there came a thundering down the stairs and Matt came into view. He came to an abrupt halt upon seeing the ex-Time Agent.
"Hi Matt," Jack said, calmly, "Wanna go for a walk?"
Matt looked uncertainly at his mother who beamed encouragingly at him.
"Oh, go on, Matt! It's a lovely day and you've spent too much time indoors recently!"
"OK," Matt mumbled, pulling some shoes on and walking out of the door, "See you later, Mum."
She waved and closed the door as the two men trudged down the drive and along the street.
"You alright?" Jack finally asked.
Matt shrugged, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground. "Where's the Doctor and Rose?"
"Gone to Cardiff for the day with Kirsty and Lauren," Jack answered, "So they won't be disturbing us if you want to talk,"
"About what?" Matt muttered,
"About what happened," Jack said, gently,
"Nothing happened," Matt said resolutely, kicking a pebble along the pavement,
"It did, Matt," Jack said, "And you've got to face up to it. Everyone has noticed you've disappeared right when you need to be by Rose's side, supporting her through this…"
"Why's it always about Rose?" Matt snapped suddenly, "It's never me or anyone else. The attention is always centred on her and if you don't focus on her, you're the bad guy! I'm sick of it and I'm sick of her"
Silence remained for a few seconds before Jack quietly spoke, "You don't mean that. I know you don't mean that."
"But what if I do?" Matt cried, spinning around to finally face Jack, "What then?"
Jack looked steadily at the trembling young man in front of him before suddenly reaching forward and pressing his lips to Matt's. He kissed back for a few seconds before seeming to realise what he was doing and jerking back, breathing erratically.
"What the hell was that for?" he shouted,
"You're not sick of Rose," Jack said, "You're just using that as a cover for your real fear- that you think you might be gay."
Matt took in several deep shuddering breaths before locking eyes with the ex-Time Agent. "I don't hate Rose," he whispered, tears appearing in his eyes, "I love her; she's one of my best friends. I'm sorry I said that,"
"It's alright, pal," Jack said, "You seem to displace your fears quite a lot. I remember just after we first met, you gave Rose a hard time after discovering the Doctor was alien because you were scared of him and Rose was an easy target."
Matt winced, hating to remember that month all that time ago. "I guess," he mumbled before sighing. "Jack?" he then asked, desperately looking at his friend, "What do I do?"
The ex-Time Agent looked thoughtfully back at him before leading him to sit on a patch of grass in a strangely deserted park. "First thing, I think, is to work out whether you're fully gay or just bi. I, myself, am omni, but you won't be that," he added, with a little laugh,
"How come?" Matt asked, feeling a little calmer. He knew Jack would help him sort it out.
"Omni is basically liking anyone or anything," Jack defined, "That can be men, women, aliens, you name it."
Matt's eyes widened. "OK, I'm definitely not omnisexual then!" he giggled, "I think… I think I might be bi, though. I fancy girls but I also fancy some guys like…" He blushed a deep scarlet.
"Me?" Jack finished and Matt nodded, not daring to look him in the eye. "That's cool," Jack continued, "Lots of people and beings fancy me. Hell, I even fancy me; I'm just so damn good looking!"
Matt laughed, feeling relieved that his friend hadn't taken it badly.
"Alright then, Matt," Jack said, "I don't know how long me, the Doctor and Rose are gonna be stuck on this planet but until we leave I'm gonna give you an education in the art of being bisexual, OK?"
Matt shyly looked up at him and nodded. "How?" he asked,
"I'll take you to some bi-bars in London that I know of," Jack answered, "And get you mingling. I'm willing to teach you some techniques, if you catch my drift, if you want me to."
Matt blushed violently but nodded. "Thanks, Jack," he said, "Really appreciate this,"
"It's no problem," he answered, "Anything to help one of my best mates."
And he really meant that too.
The TARDIS rematerialised in her favourite spot in the Powell Estate grounds. About a minute later, the door opened and three hyper young women fell out followed by a bemused Time Lord.
"That was the best experience of my life!" Lauren giggled,
"Totally," Kirsty agreed, "We have to that again some time!"
"Erm… right," the Doctor nodded, reaching out an arm to catch Rose who looked as if she was about to topple over, "Steady there, Rose!"
Rose giggled as she hung off his arm, lolling her head backwards. "You look funny, Doctor," she sniggered, "You're all upside down!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes and hauled her upwards and secured her in the crook of his arm. He thought the girls might have had a little too much pixie dust and alcohol in Cardiff. "You," he told Rose, "are going to have a hell of a headache later,"
"Don't care," she slurred, "You're the Doctor, you'll fix me up." She giggled and launched out of his grip and joined her friends who were dancing the conga around the grounds.
The Doctor grinned and contemplated joining them. For a moment, it almost felt like before, before Rose's memories had gone, when they'd mucked around together, just having fun without a care in the world.
Suddenly, a whole chain of vehicles pulled up into the Estate, screeching to a halt and men with cameras began piling out of different vans and cars and running towards the arrival of a posh black car. The Doctor narrowed his eyes and strolled over to where Rose and her friends were curiously watching the spectacle. He slipped his hand into Rose's unconsciously just as Lauren and Kirsty gasped.
Walking regally towards them, followed by all the cameramen, was Mr. Saxon.
"Good evening," he said, when he reached them, "I'm looking for Rose Tyler."
Rose shot a look at the Doctor before stepping forward, still clasping his hand. "That's me," she said.
Mr. Saxon smiled and extended his hand to her. "Hello Rose Tyler," he greeted, shaking her hand enthusiastically, "Who might your friends be?"
"Oh, this is Kirsty, Lauren and the Doctor," Rose answered, nodding to each in turn,
"Pleased to meet you," Mr. Saxon said, looking at all three of them but the Doctor in particular, "Anyway, I am here to personally tell you, Rose Tyler, that you have won first prize in the guess my forename competition."
Rose gasped, which was echoed by Kirsty and Lauren.
"What was your guess, Rose?" Kirsty asked urgently,
"Ah, I think that secret can wait until the official ceremony," Mr. Saxon said, "And then you can announce to the world what my name is!"
Rose smiled, sneaking a look at the Doctor who grinned back. "When will that be?" he asked,
"The sixteenth of July," the Prime Minister declared grandly, "So, just over two weeks from now. It will follow our one-on-one conversation. I look forward to seeing you then, then Rose Tyler,"
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Saxon," Rose said, grinning as he shook her hand once again and cameras flashed all around them.
"Mr. Saxon?" Lauren asked, as he was about to leave, "Can we have your autograph?"
He looked faintly amused. "Not until after my forename is revealed, Lauren," he said, "But then you can, I promise."
"Oh, thank you!" Lauren said, looking thrilled as the Prime Minster returned to the car. She turned excitedly to Kirsty whilst Rose looked dazedly up at the Doctor, who gently hugged her.
She'd won the competition. Wait 'til her Mum heard about this!
Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received
