Never Quite Normal
By: Jessa L'Rynn & Olfactory Ventriloquism
This work is a collaborative effort. If it had been just me, this story wouldn't be right at all, so big round of applause for my co-author, Olfactory Ventriloquism. -Jessa
Disclaimer: We don't own Doctor Who. We have abducted him and are trying to get him to sign himself over. He's offered to trade us some immortal bloke whom he claims also has his own show, but we're not sure. Bird in the hand and all that. We'll keep you updated on our progress, if we ever make any.
Please note: This fic carries an M rating for a lot of very good reasons.
Chapter 11:
Rose managed to keep from flinching as her mother stormed up to her. Fingers wrapped angrily around her upper arm and pulled her along in Jackie's wake. Rose went peaceably, knowing that not fighting would go a long way to cooling down the upcoming argument. At least, that was her original intent. She soon got tired of the silent treatment.
It wasn't a long trip, just over a mile if you used the side streets and alleys. Just past halfway, there was a small empty lot surrounded by uninhabited buildings. It was generally considered convenient for the continuance of the odd bar fight or a quickie against the wall. This was the place Rose chose for confrontation. It was neutral ground. She dug her feet in and dragged Jackie to a halt.
"Are you going to say something?" Rose began. "He was in a car wreck. Someone had to look after him!"
"Oh! And it just had to be you. He's trying to kill himself and you're infatuated with him!"
At this, Rose refused to respond. She knew she wasn't infatuated. She was beginning to suspect it went a lot deeper than that. Jackie saw the opportunity and swooped in to fill the silence with a smorgasbord of misplaced advice, chastisements, and empty platitudes. Rose followed her silently home knowing that she was only delaying the inevitable battle. She hoped to have more artillery by then.
Mickey and Shireen arrived on the doorstep within minutes of Jackie slamming the door behind them. Jackie refused to allow Rose to answer the door, afraid of it being "that man" and her never seeing her daughter again. When she saw who it was she fell into raptures at the top of her lungs about how sweet Mickey was and how well he treated Rose. While Jackie enthused, Shireen ducked around her and headed into the living room where Rose waited. The two girls exchanged an eye roll and grasped at the sheepish look on Mickey's face when he was ushered in. Jackie bustled off to fix them all a cuppa.
Shireen sat next to Rose on the couch and grasped her hand comfortingly. "Okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"How's old big ears?" Mickey asked, not unkindly. He even seemed to be genuinely concerned.
"He'll be alright. He's already up and moving around despite being ordered to rest."
Shireen narrowed her eyes in suspicion of Rose's strained nonchalance, but was unable to question it as Jackie chose that moment to return. The rest of the visit passed in small talk and gossip, and Shireen left, her curiosity unsatisfied.
Lethbridge-Stewart waited patiently for his "nephew" to come to himself and where he was. It was not the first time he'd seen this Doctor awaken in tears and, though it made his heart ache, he doubted it would be the last time. The first time it had happened, he hadn't expected it, having never thought he'd see the Doctor cry. But what he'd seen in battle and war told him why, and the unstable Time Lord was at once more cold and more emotional than he'd ever been before. Joshua, of course, was in almost the same state. Tears came readily, no matter who the Doctor thought he was, and the Brigadier had long since decided to do nothing to make him consider them inappropriate or shameful.
Sooner than he expected, Joshua was pushing himself away and wiping the tears harshly from his face.
Under these circumstances, most people would ask the person who had just awakened what they had dreamed, but the Brigadier knew better. The Doctor didn't want to talk about it, and Joshua could never remember, a fact which frustrated him amazingly. The Brigadier was stunned, therefore, that Joshua's eyes met his without the unfocused look of forgetfulness clouding them. This time the pain shone with a clarity which was somehow worse than when it was hazy.
"What have I done?" Joshua rasped.
The Brigadier stared at him, gaping like a fish, completely at a loss as to how to answer that. Joshua shouldn't remember. Had the wall broken? Was he now talking to the Doctor? But the Doctor knew exactly what he had done, and the power that suffused the Doctor was missing from Joshua. The Brigadier decided that this time, asking Joshua if he could remember the dream could be the only safe option. He opened his mouth to do so, but Joshua spoke before he could.
"Shit, how could I be so stupid?" he raged at himself.
The Doctor was not known for calling himself stupid, quite the opposite in fact. The Brigadier realized that this was most likely Joshua, and so addressed him as such.
"What happened, son?" he asked kindly.
"She got a call from Rickey the Idiot. I thought…I dunno, I guess I thought she was ditching me. I said something I shouldn't. She ran off." Joshua spat the words out, as though thoroughly disgusted with himself.
Every gear ground to a halt in the Brigadier's mind. He felt as though he had to mentally rewind the spring to start everything up again. He'd been expecting alien invasions, not girl trouble, and particularly not so soon. Miss Tyler had been worried sick the night before and refused to leave his side until she knew he was in safe hands. She was steady, Lethbridge-Stewart could recognize that in her already. Joshua must have made a proper ass out of himself to chase her off. The Brigadier sighed and toyed with his mustache uncomfortably.
"Your aunt is just down the street picking up some supplies. She figured that your fridge was probably pretty bare, and we can't have you starving during your recovery. She'll be here in a few minutes. Doris will know better than me how you can fix this." He sighed again and looked away. This was not his area of expertise. "In the mean time, how about some tea?"
Doris Lethbridge-Stewart was met at the door by a husband who was unusually relieved to see her. The groceries were taken from her with an assurance that he would put them away if she would only talk to Joshua. The (apparently) younger man was sitting on the couch; his head was resting on the knuckles of his fists as though he was too upset to un-ball his hands, though his knuckles must be digging into his forehead. Or maybe he felt he deserved the discomfort. Doris recognized the look, if not the intensity, from anyone who had ever hurt the person they loved.
"What have you done, dear?" she asked tenderly, sitting down next to Joshua. He looked up, tears shining in his eyes. He opened his mouth and the flood gates were released. With gentle prodding, Doris soon had the whole story, from the first time he'd noticed how much more Rose deserved than Jimmy Stone was giving her, up until the events of that morning.
"So…who was the first phone call from?" she asked an hour later. The Bridgadier was now perched in a nearby chair, listening raptly.
"Her mum. Di'n't like her daughter out all night, I shouldn't wonder. I dunno…I thought it was her mate, Mickey. He fancies her like mad. And…I didn't like it. I said something unworthy of her. But then, Mickey did call, and this time she answered it. All of a sudden, she had to go. I hated the idea of her leaving me to go to him. I lashed out." Joshua was speaking as though from a distance, dully reciting his tale. The tears had long since dried. He had no more tears to shed. If he were human, he'd have a killer headache.
Doris closed her eyes, not really wanting to know the answer to the next question, but needing to hear it, all the same. "What did you say, exactly?"
"So, off you go, then. Have a good afternoon with Rickey the Idiot. See ya... whenever." His voice perfectly recreated what he'd said, bitterness sharpening the edge of his words.
"What did she say?" Doris, knowing that she was near the crux of the story, softened her voice even more as though she were talking to a frightened child, which, she realized, she was.
"She slapped me."
"And quite right, too, with all you put her through," the Brigadier muttered from his chair. Doris shushed him.
"And then?"
"She said she's going to go out with Mickey. She wasn't going to, but now she is. Thing is, he deserves her more than I do." Joshua's voice cracked, the recitation over.
"Oh, Joshua," Doris began.
"No, Aunt Doris. I call him a stupid ape, but he's not the one who thought he was so clever he didn't need to ask questions. I watched her. From the window." Joshua jerked his chin towards the window next to the door. "When she got downstairs, her mum came storming up, and dragged her off. Mickey must've told Rose. 'S why she left. So her mum couldn't have a go at me. I'm the idiot."
Doris and the Brigadier, having heard Joshua's depiction of Jackie Tyler, shared a glance which said how brave and compassionate they thought this young woman must be to face that alone for the sake of Joshua.
When nothing was said for several minutes, Joshua looked up at his aunt. "How do I fix this?" his voice begged, echoing the pleas in his eyes.
"Start by apologizing." Doris said simply.
"Apologizing, right." Joshua nodded and hoisted himself off the couch, moving purposefully to the door.
"Wait!" Doris caught his arm. "You can't go out like that. Harry said that bandage was waterproof, so go get a shower. And we'll get some food into you. I know you. You haven't eaten all day."
"And a shirt would be good," the Brigadier chimed in.
Joshua looked down at his bare arms and shoulders in bewilderment. His hand came up to brush the tear tracks staining his face. "Right," he said again, striding off to the bathroom.
When they heard the water start, Doris and her husband both heaved a sigh.
"As absent minded as ever," Lethbridge-Stewart commented as he headed into the kitchen to help his wife with lunch.
Rose begged out of being alone in her mum's company after Mickey and Shireen left by saying she needed a shower. It had the benefit of being true, so Jackie couldn't get upset.
The hot water relaxed muscles that had been tense since Joshua ran out of the pub the night before. The sound of the droplets hitting the wall muffled her sniffs and quiet sobs. The rivulets that poured down her face erased her tears. Rose imagined that the anger and pain of the past 12 hours was being rinsed off. She pretended that she was just releasing the emotions she had ignored through the night and morning. She thought she was getting good at lying to herself.
While Rose was drowning her sorrow, a knock came to the door, let itself in and resounded determinedly through the apartment. Expecting Howard, Jackie opened the door with a smile which vanished the instant she saw the tall, big eared man in a leather jacket.
"Hello. I don't know if we've been properly introduced," Joshua began nervously, a polite smile faltering on his face. "I'm Joshua St-"
"I know who you are," Jackie informed him coldly. "You're the sick bastard trying to seduce my Rose. What are you, thirty-five? Forty? She's half your age. You stay away from my daughter, or I will make you regret it. I see you 'round here again, I'm calling the cops, mate." Jackie slammed the door.
Joshua blinked for a moment at the door, unsure of when he'd lost control of the situation. He briefly considered pounding on the door and demanding to see Rose, but that undoubtedly would bring the police and a situation even Uncle Alistair couldn't get him out of. Instead, for once, Joshua did the smart thing and left.
A small detour from his route home took Joshua to the playground where he'd first taken Rose's hand and run with her. Joshua watched as two children of about 6 years old took turns on the slide, laughing and screaming in glee all the way down. The girl's red hair streamed behind her like dancing flames. The black-haired boy spied a dandelion that had sprouted at the base of the slide. When the girl landed, he handed it to her, smiling shyly. The impetuous carrot-top threw her arms around her friend in a tight hug and graced him with a kiss on his cheek. She then gleefully ran off to the woman Joshua assumed was her mum and showed off her flower.
When Joshua got home, the first thing he did was open the telephone directory to 'F.'