Chapter Twenty Five
As discretely as they could, everyone got Ten back to the Doctor's TARDIS. Amato carried him and hunched down slightly while the others walked around him and blocked him from view.
"I just knew that something would interrupt my nap," the Doctor said. "Least I know now what I felt funny. If this jewel was left there eventually I would fall under the Trickster's control right along with him."
He touched his wife's cheek.
"And if his command was to find and kill you then I would have done the same," he said to her.
"The Trickster, I think you mentioned him before, Sis. Didn't you say that Donna told you he was behind the beetle being on her back?"
Rose nodded.
"Yeah, that was one of his agents," the Doctor said as Amato carried Ten into the med bay. "He's the leader of the Pantheon of Discord. They muck with history in order to create chaos wherever they can. I think Sarah mentioned he targeted her once as well. But yes, by changing Donna's future, he in effect killed me and now apparently he's trying to change my future again and take my family away from me."
"Can we stop him before he does this again?" Rose asked as Amato and Alan laid Ten gently on the metal table in the med bay.
"Not really, he exists outside the universe and he's extremely hard to catch, let alone stop. We just have to be alert and hope that if he tries something like this again, we'll be able to stop him. Now, Rain and Rose, let us handle this. It might take an hour or two to extract the jewel and we have to be careful since it looks like it's buried in there."
"Perhaps you better let us do this, Brother," John said. "As long as the jewel's a part of him, you're in danger from the mind control."
The Doctor nodded.
"Okay, but be careful, don't kill me," he said to them.
"What, we can't throw caution and surgical implements to the wind and just have fun?" Alan said.
"Amato, keep an eye on these two," the Doctor said while the women giggled.
"Trust me, I will," Amato replied.
He watched as Rain walked up and kissed Ten's forehead.
"My poor Doctor, don't worry, we'll have you back to normal soon," she whispered to him.
She leaned back up and took the Doctor's hand before they and Rose walked out of the med bay.
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While the Doctor lay down in his bedroom, Rain and Rose sat in the kitchen and drank some tea. Rain took a sip of tea and shook her head.
"I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe that this Trickster can strike at any time and change the future and we might not even know it's happening," she said. "How do we even begin to defend against him?"
Rose shook her head.
"I don't know. When I found Donna in the universe she made, she wasn't even aware her future had changed. It was all normal for her."
"Then there's nothing we can do," Rain said sadly. "The universe could change at any minute and we wouldn't even be aware of it."
Rose reached across the table, took her hand and gave it a squeeze. Rain smiled gratefully at her sister before she decided to change the subject and talk about something else.
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While they were chatting, Amato and John worked on Ten, trying to extract the stone while Alan helped and occasionally went to check on his brother.
"Damn that Trickster," Amato said as he delicately cut into the skin around the jewel. "Been a thorn in my side for centuries. Hadn't seen him in awhile though and then he goes and does this to our brother."
"I'm glad we have the tissue regenerator so we can heal him the moment we extract this thing. He needs to get back to his TARDIS before his Rose wanders off to look for him," John said.
"I know. I'm working as fast as I can," Amato replied.
John glanced over his shoulder when Alan came back in the room.
"How is he?" John asked.
"He's fine so far. Still a bit foggy in the old noddle but he hasn't turned against us yet," Alan said, picking up a sponge so he could help John mop up the blood that was now seeping out from the incision Amato made. "Damn the Trickster, if I ever get my hands on him personally…"
He fell silent as they began the delicate task of extracting the jewel. Amato gently cut around and under the stone while John and Alan helped to mop up the blood and kept an eye on the readouts. After an hour, they were finally able to pry the jewel out of his chest and Alan quickly used the tissue regenerator on the wound. All three breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the gaping hole closing up and repairing itself until not a trace of the hole remained. Once that was done, Alan went to check on the Doctor and found him up and moving about with a huge smile on his face.
"I take it the extraction was successful since I no longer feel ill," the Doctor said to him.
Alan nodded and embraced him.
"Good, let's let him rest and once he wakes up, you lot will have to take out his memories of this before we can return him to his TARDIS," the Doctor said.
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After drinking their tea, Rain and Rose went into the living room and watched some TV as they tried to keep their minds off Ten's condition. An hour and a half went by before the Doctor appeared in the living room door.
"How is he?" Rain asked him.
"He's fine. He's completely recovered and he's asking for you," the Doctor said to her.
"Me? Why?" Rain said.
"We explained as briefly as we could what was happening and who you were and I think he wants to apologize," the Doctor said.
"But…you're going to erase all of this from his memories, aren't you? So he won't even remember his apology."
"I know and I told him that, but he still insists on speaking with you. He said even if he won't remember saying he's sorry, you will."
"There's nothing to apologize for. I know it wasn't his fault," Rain said.
The Doctor smiled.
"Well, you know me, Latara, I have a guilt complex," he said.
Rain rolled her eyes and grinned when the Doctor came forward, embraced her and gave her a kiss.
"Now don't you run off with him because I might be the next one to follow you around," he teased.
"Oh, you and your jealousy," Rain said.
"That's right, I am, you're mine and mine alone!" the Doctor said while Rose giggled. "Rose knows all about my jealous streak, dontcha Rose?"
"Yup, he's a jealous little git alright," Rose said.
"Git?" the Doctor said to her while Rain laughed. "Right, you go see Tenny and I'll stay here and punish Rose for that remark!"
Rain chuckled and kissed his lips. She took her husband's hand and he led her out of the room towards the bedroom where Ten was resting.
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"Are you going in with me?" Rain asked softly as they paused by the door to the Doctor's room.
"No, it's too risky. He's me and I can't risk touching him. Rose touched herself as a baby and it brought the reapers and they started to destroy everything to fix the paradox. You go ahead and go in, he wanted to see just you anyway."
He kissed her lips.
"I'll be in the living room punishing Rose for calling me a git," he said with a wink.
"Just don't let Alan find out you're doing that."
"Alan would agree with me."
She giggled and gave him one more kiss before the Doctor walked off. Rain watched him go and when he turned the corner and went into another corridor, she stared at the closed door and braced herself for her meeting with her husband's former life. She opened the door and peeked inside. The Doctor was sitting on a bed, staring down at the floor. On the bedside table beside him was a small cup of tea and a couple slices of bread and butter on a small porcelain plate. When the Doctor heard the door squeak, he looked up and smiled.
"Hello," he said.
"Hi," Rain said quietly as she stepped inside and closed the door.
"I want to apologize for what I did," the Doctor said softly.
"There's no need to apologize. I know you weren't in your right mind," Rain said, standing by the door.
"But I shoudn't have just put on that necklace, not without checking it first. Normally, I would have run a scan on it but I didn't…"
"Because Rose gave it to you?" Rain said.
The Doctor nodded and looked at the floor. He glanced up thirty seconds later and noticed she was still standing by the door.
"I won't hurt you now, I'm free of the mind control," he said to her.
"I know."
"They told me who you are, who you will be to me," he said, studying her. "They explained a bit about how you became a Time Lady and how we meet."
Rain smiled at that. The Doctor chuckled nervously.
"I must admit it's a bit of a shock meeting my future wife after trying to kill her. But I can see now why the Trickster targeted you. Thing is, I never considered getting married again. Always thought I'd spend the rest of my lives a bachelor."
"Well, life is strange sometimes," Rain said, shrugging.
The Doctor studied her.
"You're being awfully distant for someone who's my lives mate," he joked. "Are you afraid your current Doctor won't approve?"
"No, it's just that…you don't know me and I was trying to keep a respectful distance because of that."
Ten stood up.
"Do you mind though…I know I'm not him but I must know…would you let me do a bit of memory sharing?"
"No, go ahead."
Ten walked towards her until he was two feet away. He closed his eyes and Rain felt him searching through her memories. She offered no resistance, put up no barriers, as flashes of her life with the Doctor came into her consciousness. She smiled when she saw her wedding in Kyoto in her own mind and noticed the smile that spread across Ten's face.
"Japan, that's lovely," Ten said.
"Yes, it was a beautiful wedding," Rain said.
"You look beautiful, I look naff though."
Rain laughed.
"You do not, you looked handsome."
"I do not, the outfit I have on is pants," Ten said while Rain laughed. "Did you talk me into wearing that?"
"No, it was your idea."
"Hmmm, must have been half insane that day," he teased while she laughed.
She smiled when she saw her children in her mind's eye.
"We have children?" Ten said in disbelief.
"Well, most of them are adopted but…"
"Dex…"
Rain's hearts wrenched when she saw a tear fall out of his closed eye.
"Dex is alive?" Ten said.
"Yes and he's with us now. He has a wife and two daughters so you have grandchildren."
She laid a hand on his arm when he swallowed hard at that. The memories continued to flash through her mind. She saw Dorothy and Jenny, Emi and Tara and then the triplets.
"These aren't adopted. They're my own," Ten said in shock.
"Yes, it's a long story but you and I become human briefly with the chameleon arch and this…bastard forced us to have sex for his own amusement and I became pregnant. But they're fifteen now and they're all wonderful kids."
Ten opened his eyes and shook his head.
"All this is going to happen to me in the future," he said. "I'm not only married, I'm a father and a grandfather."
"Yes, and you'll be a father again in about eight months time."
Ten looked down and noticed the slight bulge in her belly.
"Wait, we became human again?" he said to her.
"No, not exactly. This one was made with the help of a very magical friend. It's a girl. We're naming it Hope Clara Alana Smith. You saw Alan, your clone?"
He nodded.
"Alana is for him and Clara is for your mother, she found us a month ago."
She grabbed Ten's arm when he staggered back and his eyes filled with tears.
"But how? I don't sense anyone except myself in my own time. How are Dex and my mum alive?"
Rain briefly explained how they were both human in his own time period and that's why he couldn't sense them. Ten shook his head and Rain helped him to sit down on the bed when everything began to overwhelm him. She put her hand on his back when tears fell from his eyes.
"How long?" Ten asked after a few minutes of silent weeping. "How long do I have until I meet you?"
"How long has it been since you regenerated?" Rain asked.
"About a month."
"Then it's about four and a half years, give or take, until you meet me."
"That's all?" Ten said.
Rain nodded. Once again, she felt him searching her memories and she offered no resistance to it. Ten did this for a few minutes and then shook his head.
"No, I don't wanna forget this. I don't want my memories of all this taken from me," he said in a choked up voice that made tears come to Rain's eyes. "All my life I've been so alone and I don't wanna go back to that."
Tears streaked down Rain's cheeks as she embraced him. Ten held her tightly and laid his head on her shoulder while she rubbed his back.
"After everything I've seen inside your mind, four and a half years will seem like an eternity," he said as Rain kissed his temple.
"Then that's why you should allow them to take these memories away so you won't be tormented by them," Rain said, stroking his hair.
Ten leaned back up and looked at her.
"Are we happy together?"
Rain smiled.
"More happy than you can ever imagine."
Rain's hearts ached as he lowered his head to the floor, his body shaking as he wept silently.
"Is there a way they can take one of the memories of me and put it into your subconscious?" Rain asked him. "So you won't actually remember me but unconsciously you will and be comforted by it."
"Yeah, that can be done," Ten said as he looked at the floor.
"Then ask them to do that so you'll have something to hope for the next four and a half years."
Ten looked up at her and smiled. He glanced down at her wedding ring, took her hand and stared at it silently while Rain rubbed his back.
"Do you love me?" Ten asked.
"More than life itself," Rain said.
Ten looked at her, there was a moment's pause and then he leaned in and caught her lips in a kiss. Rain eagerly returned it and opened her mouth letting her husband's former self snog her for several minutes. Afterwards, Rain laid her nose against his left cheek while she and Ten caressed each other's minds. She sensed a serenity fall over Ten while she did that and she ached knowing he would have to go back to a time when he didn't have her or the presence of his family's minds to comfort him. She figured Ten must have thought of that himself because she felt his arms tightening around her and the fear return to his mind.
"Shhhh, my love, it'll be alright," she said, trying to comfort him so the serenity would return. "You'll be okay. It won't be long until you meet me, I promise."
Ten chuckled and kissed her cheek.
"I think I'm already starting to fall in love with you which could present a problem for me if you're not there," he said. "But after seeing into your memories and seeing the kind of person you are, I'm looking forward to being married to you."
"Good, I'm glad," Rain said as they rubbed each other's cheeks.
Ten noticed she was lost in thought for a moment.
"What is it?" he said.
"I was thinking, what if this has happened before?"
"How'd ya mean?" Ten asked.
"My husband told me that when you were in your fifth life, you met your current self after your TARDISes accidentally merged together."
Ten chuckled.
"Yeah, blimey, I'd forgotten about that."
"Well, that's still to come in your future only now it's reversed and you'll be meeting your fifth self instead of the other way around."
Ten considered that and nodded.
"Which means that time keeps repeating itself since you remember your tenth self saving the universe from destruction."
Ten nodded. She smiled.
"When we first met, you fell in love with me very quickly. I'm talking maybe a week or so before you finally confessed your love for me. What if my husband was in this exact same situation you are in and he asked to keep a memory of me in his subconscious like you want to and when he saw me, that memory helped him to fall in love with me?"
Ten grinned and shrugged.
"I mean, our friend, the one who allowed me to conceive Hope, brought us together but what if this memory helped it along. I mean, I was always kinda surprised at how fast you fell for me and maybe this is the reason."
Ten shrugged.
"Don't ask me, time is a strange thing," he said.
Rain chuckled.
"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey I think is the word for it."
Ten's eyes widened.
"Exactly! Wow, I like that! I'll have to remember that as well."
"Oh God, you mean I'm the one who gave you that phrase?" Rain said as Ten laughed. "Ugh, I better shut up now."
"No, no, keep talking. The more I sit here, the more I like what I see," Ten teased.
Rain's hearts leaped when he gazed at her and she recognized the tender look that her husband always gave her.
"I can see why the Trickster wanted to eliminate you from my lives. Even during this conversation I can tell that you're right for me and you'll make an excellent lives mate."
"Gee, I didn't realize I was being interviewed for the position."
Ten giggled.
"Well, I am very picky when it comes to who I let in my life," he said.
Rain raised her eyebrow.
"Really? Is that why we have four billion family members now?" she teased.
She laughed when Ten's eyes widened at that and she took his hand.
"Come with me, gotta show you something," she said. "I'm assuming you're not a prisoner and can move around."
"I better not be or I will raise a fuss," Ten said as he stood up.
She led him out the door and he walked beside her as she led him down a couple of corridors before they stopped outside a closed door. She peeked inside and opened it.
"This is our bedroom," she said.
She laughed when Ten leered at her followed by an impish grin.
"Already, Misses? Are we the sort of couple that go at it every hour on the hour," he said while she laughed.
"No, I have something I want to show you. Our family, all of them," she said as they walked inside.
She pointed to the large family portrait over their chest of drawers and Ten's mouth fell open.
"What? That's our family?" he said as she took the portrait down and handed it to him.
"Um, pretty much, some of them are very close friends but the majority of them have been adopted by us as family."
His eyes bulged and he pointed to someone in the photo.
"Wait…that looks like…"
"Sarah Jane? She's your sister and a Time Lady."
She grabbed his arm when he staggered back.
"Sarah, oh God, look at her. She's beautiful."
"Yes, she is. Um…let's see, you know Grace. We find her again and she's also a Time Lady and your sister. Jack becomes half a Time Lord, he stays immortal and he's your brother. Let's see…trying to think who else you know in this photo. Oh yes, Rose of course. Rose becomes a Time Lady and your sister."
Tears streamed down Ten's cheeks.
"And I know there're three versions of Rose, it's because two of them and four of you are from other universes. And there's Dex, he regenerated and he's the one with red hair in the back, and Clara and Mickey, he's also a Time Lord, and Jackie…"
"Oh no, not Jackie, please. She's not a Time Lady as well."
Rain nodded and laughed when Ten made a face.
"But…you and she get along great. Don't worry, she doesn't travel with you, she became a Time Lady after Rose did so she could be with her."
"But isn't that Pete Tyler? Pete Tyler's dead, I saw him die when a car hit him," Ten said. "Wait, is that Pete from another universe then?"
Rain nodded and the Doctor shook his head.
"Blimey, this is gonna be one hell of an interesting life, I can just tell," he said while she laughed.
"I think everyone else you haven't met yet," Rain said as they looked at the photo. "But just think, four and a half years and this phase of your life begins. I mean, they won't all come at once but you'll eventually find the happiness and peace you've been looking for all your lives."
She sighed contentedly when Ten came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Ten glanced at the chest of drawers and grabbed another smaller photo.
"That's us and our children," Rain said to him while he looked at it. "Dex, Jenny, Emi and Tara and in front of us are Sokanon, Chaska and Namid, our triplets."
Ten chuckled as he stared at Chaska.
"He looks like me except he has your skin and hair color."
"I know, bizarre huh?" she teased.
"Very," Ten teased back.
He put that photo up and took another one off the dresser.
"That's you and your personal clone, Alan. You're very close to him."
"How do you tell us apart? I mean, apart from the fact I just regenerated, how did you tell us apart?"
Rain snorted.
"Trust me, you two act nothing alike," she said while Ten chuckled. "And over time, everyone just knows who was who. Alan always wears t-shirts anyway. He rarely wears suits like yours so that also helped but even your counterparts from the other universes don't act exactly like you. Trust me, it's not that hard to tell."
"But…Alan…he didn't regenerate, yeah? So now you're living with my eleventh incarnation and yet he still has this body. Does it hurt seeing him knowing that's what I used to look like?"
Rain smiled and leaned back into him.
"No, it took a bit of time but I've grown to love your eleventh body as much as this one. Besides, I don't want Alan. He's waaaaaay too hyper and weird. Rose can have him, trust me."
"So Alan is married to Rose?"
"Yes, the clones are married to all the Roses and Theta who is your counterpart is married to a wonderful woman named Frankie and Amato, your other counterpart, is single at the moment."
"Let me guess, you're trying to find someone for him."
She giggled.
"Um…some of the family members are, but five years ago, he became himself again after being the Valeyard for a couple of centuries and he's still trying to work through that."
Ten swallowed hard and Rain sensed his fear upon hearing that.
"You…you do sorta become the Valeyard but not by choice. The Valeyard captures you and enslaves you but…that's how we meet because he sends you to kill Alan and you meet us in Beijing while we're traveling the world."
"So another villain manages to take control of me and turn me into an assassin. Blimey, I'm getting old now. I never used to be that thick."
"But it turns out alright, this magical friend of ours helps you and that's how you meet me so good does come out of it."
"Well, if it leads me to you, bring on the mind control then!" he said while she laughed.
They set the photos down on the dresser and Ten turned her around. Rain smiled as he stroked her long hair and gave her butterfly kisses on her forehead and cheeks.
"I would ask you to wait for me but I s'pose that won't be a problem," Ten said as he caressed her cheeks.
"No, I'm pretty much destined to be in your life, you're stuck with me, Thete."
"Thete?" Ten said amused.
"Yeah, I thought Doctor was kinda odd when we first met so I asked if I could call you by a private name and you allowed me to call you Thete but I'm the only one who can and only when no one else is around."
"Good because I don't like Theta or Thete," he said to her.
"I know and that's why you won't let anyone else call you Thete. With me, you know that I won't use it mockingly like some people did at the academy."
"Blimey, you know a lot about me."
"Yeah, well we end up talking an awful lot," Rain said.
She sighed when Ten pulled her into a tight embrace.
"I s'pose I should go. My Rose is in my TARDIS and sooner or later, she'll wander off and come looking for me," he said.
"Yeah, I know all about her tendency to wander off," Rain said.
Ten smiled at her. He kissed her lips.
"I'm glad you were able to call on your family to stop me from hurting or killing you so I have a future to look forward to," he murmured.
"I'm glad too," Rain whispered.
Ten kissed her tenderly for a moment while Rain once more soaked in the old familiar scent of his tenth life. Then reluctantly, Ten broke apart, took her hand and kissed it.
"Come, my future love, it's time for me to go back to where I came from," he said.
Rain nodded. Ten kissed her cheek and sent love into her mind when her eyes misted up. Then, squeezing her hand, the two of them walked out the door and Rain closed it behind her.