CHAPTER 14
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A Visitor from the Future
The Doctor was sitting completely motionless in the Captain's Chair without making a sound. He was being completely quiet as he stared off into space lost in thought. Rose frowned as she watched him. The most hyperactive man child in the universe was being quiet and sitting still.
She knew immediately that something was wrong.
"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose asked.
"Sure, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be okay?" the Doctor said with a forced smile.
"Now I know something's wrong. You're giving me the 'I'm fine' speech. I've known you for hundreds of years, Doctor. I can see right through the 'I'm fine' speech. I could see through that back when I was human and didn't even remember who I really was. If it didn't fool me back then, it certainly isn't going to fool me now. Spill it, Doctor. What's bothering you?" Rose asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Lots of things! I just saw my own tomb. I saw the future TARDIS being destroyed. I almost lost Cassiopeia and Clara. Oh, and I just found out that Marina was Cassiopeia all along and my old friend Cydonia was a splintered piece of Clara. That just about covers it I think," the Doctor said as he put his head in his hands.
"Yeah, I know. All of that was pretty mind blowing, but everything's okay now. You're still alive and as far as we know you're going to be for a long time yet so don't worry about that. The TARDIS won't come to be on Trenzalore for many centuries yet I hope, and it was almost dead anyway because it started dying as soon as you did. As for Cassiopeia and Clara, they're both okay now. Marina's happy that we finally know who she is, and Clara's just happy to be home. Everything's fine now. Stop worrying about it, okay?" Rose said as she put her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"I'm sorry. I just can't stop thinking about it. I see the results of it all of the time now. Clara's not the same since she came back. She keeps staring at me funny and acts like she wants to say something but never does. What if she resents me for what she had to go through?" the Doctor said.
"Is that what it is? You're worried about Clara? Clara's fine. She's tough so she'll get over it," Rose reassured him.
The Doctor continued to look worried anyway, and Rose smiled at him.
"You're starting to make me jealous, Doctor. Is there something between you and Clara that I should know about?" Rose joked.
The Doctor looked at her in shock until he saw that she was just kidding. He sighed in relief as she said, "Don't even joke about that. You know that I don't feel that way about anyone but you. I love Clara, but I'm not in love with her. She's like a part of my family. I just don't want to lose her over this. I've become really close to her, and now she just seems so distant. It bothers me," the Doctor said.
"I'll talk to her if you want me to. For the record, I don't think that she's angry at you. I think that she's just upset and trying to process everything that's just happened to her just like you are," Rose said.
"I hope so," the Doctor said as he looked down at the ground.
Rose gave him a short kiss as she said in a gentle voice, "It'll be alright. Trust me."
The Doctor began to smile at her as she made him feel better just like she always did. No matter how bad his mood was she could always bring him out of it. She had been doing that all of his life since the day that he met her. Rose somehow always knew the right things to say or the right thing to do to cheer him up. Or maybe it was just her mere presence alone that did the job. He always thought that it was a combination of both of those himself.
Just then Elizabeth, Wilf, and Emmy suddenly appeared inside of the TARDIS via a Vortex Manipulator on Elizabeth's wrist. The Doctor sighed. Ordinarily he would love seeing them, well his mother and Wilf anyway, but not today. Today he just wasn't in the mood for it. He didn't want to see anyone.
"Hey, how are you doing today?" Elizabeth said as she hugged the Doctor tightly.
"I'm fine. Never better," the Doctor said.
"That's what I thought. You're all upset over seeing your own grave. It's okay. That's way, way into the future," Elizabeth said.
"She doesn't buy your 'I'm fine' speech either," Rose said with a giggle.
"I saw through that when he was two years old. He can never fool me," Elizabeth said.
"He just wants attention is what his problem is. He likes to be fussed over," Emmy said.
"That's not fair, Emmy. He just saw something that no one's supposed to see. That's got to affect someone," Wilf said.
"He's seen much worse things in his time, Dad. He'll get over it," Emmy said.
"You call him Dad now?" the Doctor asked in surprise.
"Yeah. What of it?" Emmy asked.
"Nothing. It's just that I didn't expect it that's all. I think it's great. I'm proud to have Wilf as a step-dad," the Doctor said as he smiled at Wilf warmly.
Rose was glad to finally see him begin to warm up and come out of his funk at last. It was a good thing that she had told Elizabeth about it after all it seemed.
The Doctor looked at the baby bulge in his mother's stomach now and patted it affectionately. He was slowly getting used to the idea of having another sibling soon. He almost looked forward to it now.
"How's the baby doing?" He asked his mother.
"She's fine. The doctors tell me that she's very healthy from what they can tell about her," Elizabeth said.
"She?" Rose asked with a smile.
"Yes. It's going to be a girl. You're going to have a little sister again," Elizabeth said to the Doctor.
"I have mixed feelings about that," the Doctor said as he looked at Emmy with a shudder.
"Why?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.
"We're going to have so much fun together working against you, Theta. I finally have an ally," Emmy said with an evil grin.
"That's why," the Doctor said with a groan.
"Stop that, Emmy. You know you love him and so will she," Elizabeth said.
"So what? That doesn't mean that we can't have fun torturing him every now and again. I'm his little sister. That's my job," Emmy said with a chuckle.
Then she saw the sad look on her brother's face and hugged him despite herself.
"I didn't mean to make you even more upset. I'm sorry. You know I love you," Emmy said in a softer voice.
"It's not you. It's everything lately. This has just all made me so depressed," the Doctor said in a voice filled with sadness.
"I'm sorry," Emmy said as she hugged him tightly.
"Thanks," the Doctor said as he hugged her back.
Elizabeth and Rose exchanged a look now as they both realized that the Doctor was much more depressed than they had thought. He was actually being nice to Emmy.
Rose's cell phone rang, and she smiled as she recognized Amy's voice on the other end. Somehow Cliodna always knew when the Doctor was upset.
"Rose, I have someone here who you'll want to see. He's been waiting a long time to see you again," Amy said.
"I'll come as soon as I can. Right now the Doctor's depressed, and I'm trying to help him. I can't seem to bring him out of it though. Do you think that you could come by and try to cheer him up," Rose asked.
"Believe me when I say that the person that I'm talking about may go a long way in helping. He certainly seemed to get along well with him before," Amy said.
"Now I'm burning with curiosity. Just tell me who it is," Rose said.
"You'll have to see it to believe it. Just come right away," Amy said.
As Rose hung up, she said, "Doctor, Amy said that she has someone that she wants me to meet, but she won't tell me who it is. I need to go see him whoever he is. I'll be back as soon as I can. Are you going to be alright while I'm gone?"
"Of course I am. Do you think I'm a child?" the Doctor said as he pouted.
"I won't answer that. You're already depressed enough," Rose said with a smile.
This prompted no reaction from him. He wasn't even playing their usual meaningless banter game. Now she was really worried about him.
"I'll be right back," Rose said softly as she kissed him goodbye and vanished in a burst of golden energy.
"You've got her worried to death. You know that right?" Elizabeth said as soon as Rose left.
"I know. I just can't help it. I don't want to worry anyone. I just can't seem to shake myself out of it this time," the Doctor said.
Wilf made his way to Clara's room. He knew that he shouldn't be sticking his nose into this, but he was worried about the Doctor too. He knew that Clara seemed to have become very close to him so he thought that maybe she could help.
He knocked on Clara's door, and she looked at him in surprise as she opened it. He knew that he was the last person that she had expected to see there.
"Hello. Do you remember me? I'm the Doctor's stepdad," Wilf said as smiled warmly at her.
"Yeah. I remember. It's nice to see you again," Clara said.
Wilf could see that Clara had a haunted look on her face even though she was trying to be nice to him. She looked even more depressed than the Doctor.
"Are you alright?" Wilf asked.
"I'm fine," Clara said unconvincingly.
"I was going to ask you to have a talk with the Doctor to cheer him up, but it seems like you could use a good talk yourself. You could talk with me about what's bothering you if you want," Wilf offered.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you for offering though. That's very sweet. I'll be down there to speak to him in a minute. I don't know how much I'll help but I'll try," Clara said.
"Thank you," Wilf said as Clara shut the door.
As soon as Wilf returned, Elizabeth gave him a questioning glance as she knew what he had been up to without having to be told and he nodded. She smiled. Maybe Clara could help she thought to herself.
Before Clara could get there though, Rose returned with someone who looked exactly like the Doctor along with a blonde woman who looked very uncomfortable and never spoke. The Doctor instantly knew who the other Doctor was, but the others looked at the new arrival in shock.
"What's going on here?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at the exact duplicate of her son.
"This is a Ganger of the Doctor. He was made by the Flesh in the 22nd century. He's basically the Doctor in every way except he's not the original," Rose said.
"Yes! I have another Doctor to pick on!" Emmy said with glee.
"Arianrhod?" the Ganger Doctor asked with amazement.
"Hi. I bet you hoped that you'd never see me again," Emmy said with a grin.
Instead of nodding to that statement, the Ganger Doctor hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. Emmy was touched as she realized that the other Doctor felt exactly the same way but hid it from her most of the time.
Then the Ganger smiled as he saw Elizabeth and hugged her as well. He had thought that he would never see her again after he had sent her and the other Time Lords back into the Time Lock.
"I can't believe it. I have another son. Well the same son but still. It's just amazing," Elizabeth said as she looked at the Ganger in wonder.
"I'm so happy to see both of you again. Wait a minute. Are you putting on a little weight?" the Ganger asked Elizabeth.
"No, I'm pregnant," Elizabeth said with an angry look on her face.
"You could be eating the wrong things. Human food is very fattening," the Ganger insisted.
"I'm married to Wilf now, and this is our child," Elizabeth insisted as she began to fume.
"Oh, you're pregnant," the Ganger said finally getting it.
"You are just thick! I don't think I've ever seen anyone as thick as you in my life," the Doctor said with a grin.
"Yes, you have," Rose said with a smile.
"No, I don't think so," the Doctor responded with a confused look.
"You see them every time you look in the mirror," Rose said and the others began to laugh along with her.
"I'm not thick. I'm very perceptive. I notice everything in front of me with perfect clarity and accuracy," the Doctor said as he pouted.
"Ha!" Rose said.
"I notice everything. I'm the King of Perception. The Emperor of Awareness. I know all and see all," the Doctor said.
"Doctor?" Clara asked as she finally came into the Console Room and looked at the two identical looking Doctors standing together in shock.
"Not now," the Doctor said without looking at her.
"I tell you that I notice everything around me in minute detail. I'm a master at memorizing each and every detail of a room as soon as I walk into it. I have a photographic memory. I see everything, Rose," the Doctor said proudly.
Clara tapped the Doctor on the shoulder and he jumped in the air as he said, "Clara? Where did you come from? I never even saw you come in here."
"I thought you noticed everything," Rose said as everyone laughed at him again.
"Well, Clara's very quiet. She can be very sneaky when she wants to," the Doctor grumbled.
"Doctor, why are there two of you here?" Clara asked as she stared at the other Doctor.
"Oh, him? He's me except he isn't. He's just like me in every way though," the Doctor said.
"Thanks for clearing that up," Clara said with a grin as she shook her head at him.
"You're welcome," the Doctor said without realizing that she was still confused.
"I'm a Ganger. A clone of the original if you will. I am the Doctor but not the one that you know. And you are?" the Ganger asked.
"I'm Clara. Clara Oswald," Clara said as she held out her hand to him.
"You look so familiar to me. Have we met before?" the Ganger asked as he shook her hand.
"She's Cydonia except she isn't," the Doctor said.
As the Ganger looked at him in confusion, Rose said with a giggle, "You've been hanging around Idris too long I think."
"Cydonia was a part of me. I know everything that she knew," Clara said as she shocked the Doctor. She had never told him that.
"How?" the Ganger asked.
"I was splintered in time and space all along the Doctor's, I mean your, timeline. Cydonia was just one of the people that I became," Clara said with great sadness in her voice.
"Are you alright, Clara?" Rose asked as she noticed that Clara was shaking.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Clara said as she started to cry.
"No, you're not and neither am I," the Doctor said as he put his arms around her and embraced her.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to spoil the day for you, Theta," Clara said as she continued to cry.
"It's okay. I was in a bad mood anyway," the Doctor said as he tried to comfort her.
Rose looked at her with compassionate eyes as she said, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No. Not right now. Thank you for offering though," Clara said.
Elizabeth looked at the scene in front of her in amazement. It just showed what a special woman that Rose was. Her husband had his arms around another woman trying to comfort her, and she wasn't the slightest bit jealous or uncomfortable about it. In fact, she was trying to help.
She was so glad that Theta had met someone as special as her. She had loved Arkytior from the moment that she met her when Theta first brought her home as a little girl. She knew then and there that she was the one for him.
The Doctor was thinking much the same thing as he smiled at Rose. Rose was so busy trying to comfort Clara that jealously was the furthest thing from her mind at that moment and rightfully so. He had no such feelings for Clara at all. He thought of her more like a sister. She was a part of his family as far as he was concerned and apparently always had been since his earliest days.
He remembered being very close to Cydonia too in a similar way once upon a time. Only Arkytior, Cliodna, and Koschei had been closer to him than her.
Thank you, Rose. The Doctor said in her mind.
For what? Rose asked.
Just for being you. The Doctor said in response.
Rose smiled at him in return but said nothing.
The Ganger looked on at the sight in guilt. He felt responsible for bringing Clara to tears. He was always saying something stupid it seemed.
The blonde woman who had come with the Ganger finally spoke up now as she said, "You didn't do anything. Stop beating yourself up, Doctor."
"You're very good at reading his moods," Rose commented.
"I should be. I've lived with him for two years. My name's Charlotte. Charlotte Avery," the woman said.
"Are you his girlfriend?" Elizabeth asked as she took a sudden interest in her now.
"No. We're just friends," Both Charlotte and the Ganger said at the same time as if they had rehearsed it.
"Okay," Elizabeth said in a skeptical voice as she knew that they were definitely more than that by the way that the Ganger was looking at her.
Knowing her son in any form as well as she knew him though she was sure that neither of them had admitted how they felt to the other yet. It seemed to be the Doctor's way to approach all relationships. Be totally oblivious and avoid your feelings until you can't ignore them any longer. He must have gotten that from his father. He certainly didn't get it from her.
"So you live together?" Clara asked Charlotte.
"Yes. I took him in when I found him wandering around by himself in a daze two years ago. He had memory problems and seemed to be confused," Charlotte explained.
"He was supposed to have died. How he's still alive at all is a mystery," the Doctor said as he looked at Rose suspiciously.
I think I may have brought him back without knowing it. Rose admitted to him through their link in that moment.
Why am I not surprised? The Doctor said with an amused grin on his face.
"I'm glad that he survived. He's my best friend," Charlotte admitted and then her face reddened in embarrassment as she realized what she had said.
"Thank you for taking care of him," Elizabeth said as she hugged Charlotte.
The Ganger smiled. He was happy that she had accepted him. He had been worried about her reaction as soon as Rose told him that she would be there.
"I can't believe that you're all alive," the Ganger said happily as he stared at Rose.
Clara started to smile for the first time that day as she saw the Doctor look at his Ganger with absolute jealousy after he noticed how he kept staring at Rose. She could always count on the Doctor's antics to cheer her up.
The Doctor cleared his throat loudly, and the Ganger saw the look of anger on his face as soon as he looked him. He realized now what he had been doing and gave him such a look of sorrow in response that the Doctor instantly felt bad for saying anything.
He knew that if it had been him that he would feel terrible too. He saw that the Ganger was just now realizing that he finally had Rose back in his life, but that he could never be with her in the same way ever again. He knew that thought would be killing him if he were in the Ganger's shoes.
Rose saw this too as she said, "I just want you to know that you can always come and visit me whenever you want. We can talk about anything you want to or just spend time with each other. We can do whatever you want to do."
"Sure, come by whenever," the Doctor said.
"Thank you," the Ganger said as he looked at both of them sadly.
I'm so proud of you right now. Rose said in the Doctor's mind.
The Doctor just looked at her with half a smile on his face and great sadness in his eyes. Rose realized with aggravation that the Ganger's sadness was just making his own mood worse.
Elizabeth realized this too as she said to Charlotte, "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we get to know each other over a nice meal? I know a nice little restaurant on Ice World that we could go to."
"Ice World?" Charlotte asked while the Ganger looked at Elizabeth in surprise. He didn't know Ice World was anywhere around here.
"Let's all go there and talk," Elizabeth insisted as she took the Ganger and Charlotte to the ship with her, Wilf, and Emmy by using her Vortex Manipulator.
Now the Doctor, Rose, and Clara were left alone again, and Clara quickly excused herself. She just wanted to be by herself right now while she dealt with things.
"Clara, wait," the Doctor said.
"Yes?" Clara asked.
"I just want you to know that I'm sorry for what happened," the Doctor apologized.
Clara looked at him in confusion as Rose said, "He thinks you blame him for what happened to you."
Clara shook her head emphatically as she said, "No, of course not. I did what I did of my own free will. I wanted to do it because I wanted to save you. I don't blame you in any way. I'm just trying to deal with all of these memories of all of these lives in my head now, but it's got nothing to do with you. I don't blame you for a thing, alright?"
She kissed him on the cheek then and hugged him tightly. She needed to show him that they were still okay.
Rose smiled as she saw that this was going a long way in making the Doctor feel better. He had become extremely attached to Clara and valued her friendship very highly.
"If you ever need to talk to me about anything, you can always come and find me," the Doctor said.
"Thanks. Maybe later but not right now," Clara said as she left to go back to her room.
"Does that make you feel any better?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, some. I'll be alright, Rose. Don't worry so much about me," the Doctor said as he smiled at her.
He wrapped his arms around her then and held her as they stood there in silence. He felt like he was drawing strength from her just by being around her. He already felt better just standing here with her like he was. The two of them began to kiss then, and he smiled as he could feel her love and concern for him in each kiss that she gave him.
This was cruelly interrupted by the sudden arrival of a strange brunette woman that he had never seen before. She just appeared out of nowhere right in the middle of the Console Room wearing a Time Ring on her arm.
"Who in the world are you?" the Doctor asked indignantly.
"Did I come at a bad time? Sorry. I'd heard that you were feeling all sorry for yourself and moping around like a little kid. It looks like you're doing just fine to me with your daily makeout session with Rose going on right on schedule," the woman said.
"Who are you? How do you know me?" Rose asked.
"I'm a friend," the woman said with a mysterious grin.
"You don't sound like it the way that you're making fun of me," the Doctor said.
"I said that I was her friend not yours," the woman said with a chuckle.
Rose smiled. She liked her already, and now she thought that she knew who she was.
"Why are you bothering me for?" the Doctor asked.
"I just came here to cheer you up. I heard that you were being all whiny and depressing. In other words, just like your normal self," the woman said with a grin.
"This isn't cheering me up," the Doctor protested, but Rose noticed that he had a smile beginning to appear on his face now.
"Aw. Mr. Grumpy's all sad," the woman said in a childish voice.
The Doctor started to laugh now despite himself as he said, "Stop that."
"Why? Don't you like it when I talk like this?" the woman said in the same childish voice.
"Stop being so silly," the Doctor said as he laughed.
"No. I like being silly. Silly is my raison d'etre. Jenny's not the only one who likes to speak French you know?" the woman said.
"You can't tell me who you are, can you?" the Doctor asked as he guessed who she was now.
"No, Theta, I can't. I just want you to know that we get along just fine someday. I love you, Theta. I just wanted to come and cheer you up because I heard just how sad that you were on this day. I always like to see you happy and not all Oncoming Stormy. It's just my basic nature," the woman said.
"You're just like your dad," the Doctor said.
"I certainly am and proud of it. Do you feel any better now?" the woman asked.
"Yeah. Seeing you and knowing that we're going to be this close does make me feel better," the Doctor admitted.
"It also assures you that you're not going anywhere anytime soon, doesn't it? He's thinking that right now, Rose. He's been worried that he's going to die soon after since he went to Trenzalore. That's part of the reason for this funk that he's in," the woman informed Rose.
"Why didn't you tell me that?" Rose asked him in irritation.
"I didn't want to upset you or worry you," the Doctor admitted.
"Good job," Rose said sarcastically as she kissed him.
"Well, now my job here's done. I've got to go home now. Mum's going to skin me alive if she finds out that I've left without asking her. See you in the future, Theta," the woman said as she kissed his cheek.
She then vanished in front of their eyes.
"I think she's going to be a great addition to the family, Doctor," Rose said.
"Yeah she is. I'm sorry, Rose. I should have told you everything. I'm just a stupid, silly old man," the Doctor said.
"I know but you're my silly, stupid old man. You always will be no matter what mistakes you make," Rose reassured him as she kissed him.
Meanwhile in the future, the woman who had just been to see the Doctor and Rose reappeared in her mother's TARDIS to find her there waiting for her. She had a very angry look on her face.
"Kimberly Aurora Mott, where have you been?" Elizabeth asked in a furious voice.
"I went to comfort Theta. You said that he was very upset after Trenzalore. I thought why not go and help him? It turns out that I did help. I helped him a lot so I'm not sorry that I did it," Kim said defiantly.
Elizabeth began to smile as she said, "How did I ever wind up with such a sweet girl as you?"
"You're just lucky I guess," Kim said with a smile as she hugged her mother tightly.
Next: Clara opens up to the Doctor about her issues at last after the Doctor and Rose decide to take her on a trip in order to cheer her up. Of course the place that they decide to go to turns out to be haunted! Or is it? Is the place full of ghosts or something else?