Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters. I wish that I did, but alas…
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Chapter 9
"What?!" Four letters. That was all that the Doctors - Sandshoes and Chinny - could manage as the impossible appeared in front of them.
It was an odd turn of events, something that neither of them saw coming. One in which time seemed to stop for just one instance, just one moment. Rose's eyes were fixed on the Doctor in front of her, while the other incarnations of the Doctor had theirs fixed on her. Clara was the only one free of the spell, and she could only look anxiously from face to face, unsure of what exactly was going on and why this mysterious blonde woman had captivated the attention of everyone else. Never mind the entrance of someone who looked to be the twin of one of the Doctors.
"Hello," the War Doctor said, breaking the silence and smiling down at the woman still in his arms.
"Oi! You, hands off the Missus, if you don't mind," John barked, rushing to her side and extricating her from the War Doctor's embrace.
Rose quirked an eyebrow at the possessive tone her husband's voice and laughed outright when he pulled her up and stood protectively in front her her (sonic screwdriver in-hand) effectively blocking her from the view of other the three men. He may have once claimed that Time Lords don't do jealous, but humans certainly did.
"Now this is just getting ridiculous," the War Doctor said, shaking his head. He turned to the other two Doctors who were still gaping like fish, and then back to John. "It. Is. A. Screwdriver!"
"Quite right. Sorry," John grinned as he flipped his sonic once before placing it in the back pocket of his jeans. "Can't believe I already forgot about that," he muttered, once again eliciting a giggle from Rose.
"Forgot about what, exactly?" Sandshoes asked, finally finding his voice. "You were never meant to be here! How are you here? How is she here?" he added, although the last question mostly meant for himself. He ran a nervous hand through his hair, resting it on the back of his neck as tried to piece together what was going on.
Clara had slowly made her way over to the Doctor - her Doctor - hoping that he might have some answers. "Who is that?" she whispered. "He looks like you, that you," she continued, gesturing over to Sandshoes, "But older. Is that possible?"
Chinny shook his head. "That man is him, and was him," he nodded toward the War Doctor. "However, he was never me, nor I him."
"You do realize that makes absolutely no sense, right? So, thanks for clearing that up."
"Clara, please tell me what - if anything - about this entire scenario actually makes sense."
"Still rude, I see," Rose said, moving from her position behind John, and making eye contact with him. She was about to add a comment that he should be nicer to Clara, but before she could do so she found herself being literally swept off of her feet. Her Doctor - the one that left her in a parallel Norway and had snapped at John - lifted her into a bone-crushing hug, spinning on the spot.
"You're really here," he breathed. "Rose Tyler, the Bad Wolf and Defender of the Earth."
She smiled, tongue-in-teeth, at the mixture of relief and amazement hidden in his words. "I told you before, Doctor. Can't get rid of me."
"You forgot Savior of Gallifrey," John added, ignoring the suspicious looks he was receiving from both Chinny and the War Doctor. "Now if you wouldn't mind putting my wife down there, Sandshoes..."
The Time Lord did as requested and set Rose back down on the ground. However, he was unable to step away from her. Instead, he slipped his hand into hers and grinned when she gave his a squeeze in response. Oh, how he had missed that!
"John, really," Rose sighed. "Wait, why 'Sandshoes?'"
"Look at what he's wearing," the other Doctor, in the bowtie, replied.
Rose looked down at the Doctor's shoes. "The Converse? Really? I always loved the Converse. Even Addy wears them. Hell, John, you're wearing Chucks now!"
John shrugged, but the Doctor practically preened at Rose's comment. Of course she loved the Converse. Who didn't love Converse? Well, his older and younger selves, but that didn't matter. But, wait. She had mentioned someone else. "Who-"
Before he could get the question out, Rose had turned back to the older Doctor. "And you. You're not exactly one to judge. What's with the bowtie, yeah?"
"Oi! Rose Tyler, I will have you know that bowties are cool."
"Keep telling yourself that, Doctor," she teased. "Chucks are cool. Especially the baby ones."
"Excuse me," Clara interrupted. "Bit lost over here. If you don't mind, it's been a really long day. Care to share with the rest of the class?"
Rose sighed. She should have known that she would end up meeting Clara at an earlier point in her time stream. She already had the entire back-story not just from the Doctor, if he bothered to share, but from herself. No wonder the girl seemed so comfortable with her family, and took the initiative to remove Addy from the TARDIS. She probably knew what was coming.
"Short version?" Rose asked the Doctors-at-large. When they nodded, she continued. "I used to travel with the Doctor… that Doctor," she added, pointing to Sandshoes. "Well, him and a previous regeneration, but that's neither here nor there right now." She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. "Right, short. Parallel world, husband, Dr. John Smith," she said proudly. "Looks like the Doctor due to human-Time Lord biological metacrisis. Don't ask me to repeat that, I hate it." She turned quickly to her husband. "Love you." She looked back to Clara. "Anything else?"
"Uh, Bad Wolf?"
"Looked into the heart of the TARDIS, had the whole of the time vortex running through my mind, all to save that daft alien. And it worked. Well, sort of. He regenerated right after. Scared the hell outta me."
"You remember it?" Sandshoes asked, his eyes wide with awe.
"Course I do, now," she said softly, releasing his hand and gently cupping his cheek in her palm. "John explained most of it. But I think that's how we got here. Bad Wolf. As soon as I woke up here in this barn, it all came back. The past, and today." She smiled sadly and took a deep breath before pulling her hand and slapping him across the face. "And that was for bloody Norway. AGAIN."
John chuckled as Rose stepped to his side, wrapping her arms around his waist. Together they watched as the Doctor massaged his jaw and mumbled something about "Jackie," under his breath.
"You should be so lucky, mate," John said.
"Now that's out of the way," Rose began, "What am I supposed to call you lot? I can't just say Doctor and have three of you turn 'round."
"They've been going with Granddad, Sandshoes, and Chinny," John smirked, indicating each one in turn.
"You're one to talk, old man," Chinny replied. "You've got some lines on you," he added, pointing to the corner of his eyes.
"Proud of them too," John bit back. "She's not complaining," he said, lifting Rose's hand and kissing her knuckles. "And nor does Adelyn."
"Adelyn?"
Rose smiled. "Adelyn Noble Tyler Smith. Our daughter. Nearly 5 now, and yes, named for Donna." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a phone and handed it to - "Really, I'm not going to call you 'Sandshoes.'"
"Technically, you should be calling him 'Your Majesty,'" the bowtie-clad Doctor smirked.
"Sorry?"
The Doctor in question glared at his older self. "Long story. Might have accidentally married Elizabeth I. But in my defense-"
"He thought she was a Zygon."
John pulled a face. "Urgh. Big red rubbery thing, covered in suckers? Why?"
The man in the bowtie grinned and nodded. "Ha! Exact-"
"Enough!" They all turned to face the oldest-looking man in the room. "Bad Wolf, Ms. Tyler, whoever you may be, we have work to do. Do you mind if we save the reminiscing for after?"
Rose lowered her eyes for a moment. "Quite right," she nodded, pale golden flecks appearing as she looked back up at everyone. "Let's put an end to the Time War, shall we?" Taking John's hand in hers and heading back toward the still cloaked TARDIS in which they arrived, she turned once more to the other Doctors. "Clever boys, to your TARDISes."
"But what about you and-" Sandshoes cut off mid-sentence as he noticed the now empty spot where Rose and John had been standing.
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A/N: So many new follows and favorites! I am flattered... *blushing* Hopefully you like this chapter as well. I have to admit, it was a bit confusion to write. When you have so many versions of the same character on the page, how does one differentiate? I hope that it all made sense in the end though, it was quite a jumble in my head!
As always, please hit the reviews and let me know! :)
