CHAPTER 25
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Rose ran over to the console of The Master's TARDIS and began to manipulate its controls. He thought that he could send me away? Fat chance! She thought.
She had sworn to herself a long time ago that she would never be trapped like that again. So, she had started to carefully watch The Doctor and to listen to everything that he said every time that he drove the TARDIS. She memorized what he called each control and what he said that they did. He even didn't realize that he was teaching her as he babbled away.
Many times he would talk about something that she didn't understand so she would write what she didn't understand down and go to the TARDIS library to look it up. The TARDIS was amazingly helpful to her, and she would usually find a book concerning what she had a question about already turned to the correct page as soon as she entered the library. The TARDIS seemed to encourage her to learn as much about flying her as possible.
She had also learned things from The Metacrisis as well. He had been more forthcoming with his knowledge and would usually answer whatever questions that she had for him.
She had learned so much that she actually thought that she might be able to fly a TARDIS better than the Doctor. She couldn't wait to see his and The Master's faces when she reappeared!
She checked the sensors and detected the life signs of a Time Lord and a Rutan together in the same room. She just knew who it had to be! Who else would find the Rutan first but Mr. Oncoming Storm himself?
As she set the coordinates to materialize her new ride, she thought to herself that she was Mrs. Oncoming Storm! Her face soon developed a huge grin that refused to go away! She just kept grinning like an idiot.
The Doctor looked death in the face as the Rutan spy slowly raised the meson blaster up and pointed it at his chest. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this one.
He was shocked beyond belief when he saw that The Master's TARDIS was materializing around him! Why would he save me? He thought in utter confusion.
He was even more shocked and confused when he saw who it was behind the controls.
"Rose! How in the world?" The Doctor asked as he was totally caught off guard.
"Oh, you know how it is, Doctor. You pick up a few things here and there, and then suddenly you can fly a TARDIS. Or at least I can anyway!" Rose said with a huge grin.
"How did you get away from The Master? What did he want?" The Doctor asked.
"He wanted to talk to me about my past, and I didn't get away. He actually sent me away to protect me. He'll soon learn what a mistake that was! I'm going to give him an earful when I see him!" Rose said.
"What about your past?" The Doctor said, still confused.
"We'll talk about it later. Right now, I suppose it's up to me to stop that Rutan spy since you seemed to be having a little trouble with him," Rose said with a grin.
She manipulated the controls of the TARDIS console again and a stun beam hit the Rutan spy who had been harmlessly firing at the timeship's door since it had materialized. The two of them could see the alien imposter hit the ground on the monitor screen.
"What did you do?" The Doctor asked.
"Don't worry! It was just a harmless stun beam. I read about others TARDISes having them, but I never thought that I would get to actually use one. That was fun!" Rose said with a laugh.
"You never cease to amaze me, Rose Tyler! Just when I think that I have you figured out, you pull another trick out of your hat and prove me wrong," The Doctor said amused.
"Wait till I spring my next surprise on you," Rose mumbled to herself.
"What?" The Doctor said.
"There's something that I have to tell you about later when this is all over," Rose told him with a serious look.
The Doctor thought that he knew what that look meant but he wasn't sure. It usually meant that he had some explaining to do to her about something. He had no idea what it could be though. He couldn't think of anything stupid or insensitive that he had done. At least not lately! He didn't realize that Rose was the one that needed to explain herself to him about her secret identity.
The two of them exited The Master's TARDIS as they went to stop the station from hitting the planet below. The Doctor quickly found the engine room, and he saw that The Master was already there and working with the controls.
The Master did a double take as he saw Rose Tyler enter the room with The Doctor.
"What? How did you get back here?" He asked perplexed.
"I'm just a little bit brighter than you thought," Rose said with a cheery grin.
The Doctor looked at her with a frown. Why was she smiling at The Master? What on Earth did he say to her?
"You always were, Ari. You were always the cleverest person I ever knew," The Master said with a small smile of his own.
"Ari?! Why did you call her that?" The Doctor said, suddenly enraged.
"Why did you call me that?" Rose asked curiously.
"It's what I called you back on Gallifrey. It was my nick name for you. It's short for Arkytior," The Master explained.
The Doctor became very angry now! His face turned bright red.
"This is sick even for you! I thought that she was your friend. She always seemed like the one person that you cared about even after you changed. Is that what you were doing to Rose? Trying to brainwash her into thinking that she was my dead wife?" The Doctor said furious.
"She is Arkytior, Doctor. I swear it," The Master said with a serious face.
"Nonsense. Where is her fob watch then?" The Doctor said stubbornly.
The whole time that they had been arguing away Rose had gone to the controls and desperately tried to figure them out. She had already changed her mind about giving The Master an earful since The Doctor seemed to be doing a good job of that for her! The Master was now ignoring the controls thanks to The Doctor, and she could feel the station falling faster and faster. She had to do something or the two bickering numbskulls that called themselves Time Lords would let them all get killed! She couldn't make heads or tails of them, and she wished that she was Arkytior so that she could save them all.
She started debating with herself on whether to use her powers to gain knowledge about the controls and whether it would be breaking the rules or not.
Thankfully though the others began trickling in and some of them began to join her at the controls. Schmidt and Crater hurried over to her and began to try to restart the station's engines and get them back in orbit around Meridian Three.
The two remaining crew members worked frantically at the controls as Rose volunteered her services as an extra hand.
As the three of them began to slowly bring the station back in orbit, they could hear the Time Lords still fighting behind them!
Susan in particular had her ears perk up at the mention of her grandmother's name. She had heard what The Master was insinuating, and she began to wonder.
Rose could feel eyes on her back as she helped the two crew members manipulate the controls. She assumed that it was The Doctor and thought nothing of it. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw that it was Susan staring at her.
Rose looked at her with an inquiring glance as she wondered what was going on in Susan's mind. Then, she realized just why the Time Lady kept looking at her so intently; and she almost collapsed! Was Susan her granddaughter?!
Susan seemed to have the same thought at the same time as she asked in the soft voice of a child, "Grandmother?"
"I don't know. I really don't know. I can't remember," Rose said to her as she became uncomfortable.
"It is you! I know it! You're my grandmother!" Susan cried out in joy as she ran over to hug Rose tightly.
"Okay. Okay. Let me breathe now okay?" Rose said as she laughed a little.
Susan pulled back and said, "Sorry! I'm just so happy to see you again!"
Rose looked at her with a warm smile and said, "As much as I would love to be your grandmother, Susan; I'm not sure that you should be celebrating just yet. I don't remember anything. I'm only going on The Master's word here."
Rose had hated to say that to her, but she didn't want to break the Time Lady's heart if it turned out not to be true. Even if she wasn't her grandmother, Rose had still grown fond of her in the short time that she had known her.
Susan seemed unfazed by her comments though and just kept looking at her with a smile of pure bliss. Rose quickly found herself engulfed in yet another tight hug.
Rose grunted in pain and struggled yet again to breathe.
"Okay. Grandmother needs to breathe now!" Rose joked.
"Yes, of course!" Susan said with a red face as she let her go.
"It's okay! Believe it or not, I do the same thing to my mum when I haven't seen her in a long time. I can only imagine how you must feel," Rose said as she put her hand on the Time Lady's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Thank you, Grandmother," Susan said.
Rose stiffened at that but let it go. She just hoped that the Time Lady wouldn't be too disappointed if everything went south.
Suddenly, she found herself looking at yet another inquisitive Time Lady who was studying her closely.
"Are you my mum then?" Jenny asked hesitantly.
"If I am who Susan thinks I am, then I guess that I would be your stepmother, yeah!" Rose admitted.
Jenny's eyes flashed with joy and a smile beamed from her face as she said, "Then, I can call you Mum?"
"You might want to hold off on that, Jen. I don't even know if it's true yet. If it were true, then sure I wouldn't mind it at all. I would like that," Rose said with a grin. She had liked the young Time Lady the moment that she saw her. She was simply adorable in her opinion.
"I love you, mum!" Jenny shouted with joy as she too began to hug Rose tightly.
It seems I'm very popular today! I wonder how much longer my poor ribs can put up with this! Rose thought to herself sarcastically.
"You might be getting ahead of yourself, Jen. I don't want you to be disappointed," Rose said as she tried to pull away from Jenny.
"I think you are his wife. You're just like I always pictured my mum. We even look alike! Plus you're cool!" Jenny said as she continued to hug her.
Rose had to admit that she had noticed the uncanny resemblance between them herself, but she had put it up to coincidence.
"Jen, You're going to have to take your poor mum to the hospital if you don't let up on the steel hard grip soon!" Rose said. Her ribs really were starting to get sore now.
Jenny let her go but she continued to smile at her without stopping.
Rose was a little unnerved by all of this attention, but she tried not to show it. It wasn't every day that you found out that you might be a wife, mother, and grandmother all on the same day after all!
At that moment, the two crew members finally let out a sigh of relief as they finished putting the station back in orbit. They were all now out of danger.
The still unconscious Rutan was tied up. Then, a ship from Meridian Three was sent up to take him to a cell on the planet below and to bring the body of Captain Bennett back home.
The Doctor, Rose, and their friends were now all ready to leave and search for the fifth segment. That is after they had gotten the fourth one back from The Master.
Rose stared at the renegade Time Lord and gave him a raised eyebrow as she said, "Give me the fourth segment and the tracer!"
The Master stood there unmoving and saying nothing. He was being stubborn!
"Give them to me, or I'll give you the patented Rose Tyler slap!" Rose said as the frown on her face deepened and her feet tapped impatiently.
The Master frowned. He knew that he couldn't hold out much longer against her. She was the only one who could ever get him to back down when he had set his mind on something. Mostly by slapping the stubbornness out of him until he cried uncle!
"Fine! We'll join forces then," The Master finally gave in. He gave Rose the fourth segment and the stolen tracer.
Rose gave them to the Doctor and said, "That sounds good to me. How about it, Doctor?"
"It's just asking for trouble, Rose. I guess I would at least know where he was at all times though. Okay, we'll do it for now," The Doctor reluctantly agreed.
"Good. Oh, and for future reference I want you to call me honey from now on or Yes Ma'am! I'll doesn't matter. I'll accept either one. You could also call me Mrs. Oncoming Storm if you want," Rose said with an ever widening grin on her face.
"Don't tell me you're buying this too? He's just tricking you Rose! I don't why he's doing it but he is. Arkytior is long gone, Rose. I wish that she weren't but she is!" The Doctor assured her.
"Susan doesn't think so. She keeps calling me Grandmother. Jenny keeps calling me Mum," Rose said with a grin.
"I hope that the two of them will be okay when this is revealed to be a fake," The Doctor said unhappily.
"How do you know that it's fake?" Rose asked seriously.
"If it's real, then where is your fob watch?" The Doctor asked.
"I did have one. I had it with me when I traveled on the TARDIS," Rose said.
"What? Why didn't you ever say?" The Doctor said as his eyes popped wide open in surprise.
"I didn't think that it was important! It was just an old watch that I'd had since I was a baby," Rose said.
"Where is it now?" The Doctor said in desperation.
"I don't know. I last remember having it when I traveled with you. I left it in the TARDIS before we went to Canary Wharf," Rose said.
The Doctor began to wonder. Could it be true? He asked himself.
The others had all entered the TARDISes and only The Doctor and Rose had been left outside. The Doctor was now a man on a mission, and he ran into his TARDIS and toward Rose's room. Rose said goodbye to the two crew members and quickly followed the Doctor into the TARDIS.
All of the TARDISes began to dematerialize at once. Rose decided to use her driving skills and piloted the TARDIS toward the Fifth Segment after putting the tracer into the console. She had taken the initiative because The Doctor was currently busy searching her room for a fob watch.
"You can drive the TARDIS?!" Amy asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I'm self taught," Rose said with a chuckle.
Then, it's true? Are you his first wife?" Amy asked her with sadness on her face.
"I don't know. Maybe," Rose said. She was so sad for Amy if it were true because she knew that it would upset her. River was her daughter, after all.
Amy walked away without saying another word. Rose's heart broke a little for her.
Marissa called Rose on the monitor from the Rani's TARDIS. "I believe that I may have known you before on Gallifrey back when I was The Rani. Do you remember me?" She asked.
"No. I'm afraid not," Rose admitted.
"I think that we may have been friends. I don't really know the details. I would only know for sure if I open my watch, and I don't want to do that," Marissa said.
"Then, don't. You don't have to open the watch for us to be friends. We could always just become friends the old fashioned way you know. That sound good to you?" Rose said with a grin.
"Sounds great," Marissa said. Then, she cut her transmission.
Rose had a feeling in the back of her mind that said that she did know the woman somehow. She wondered if she would ever remember any of this past that she was supposed to have or if it was even real in the place.
Back on Meridian Alpha, Schmidt quietly walked off to a quiet corner of the station where no one ever went and entered a blue box that was sitting there.
"Did you get the watch out of the TARDIS?" A female voice called to him as he opened the front door of the police box.
"Of course, Mrs. Storm! Do you think I'm an amateur? Don't answer that!" Schmidt said.
"I wouldn't dare! I know how easily you get your feelings hurt. Especially in this incarnation," the woman said as she teased him.
"It's time to go now. You have to give the fob watch to River Song now. We have to maintain the integrity of the timelines," Schmidt said.
"You know that was a stroke of genius you had calling yourself Johann Schmidt. That's John Smith in German, isn't it?" the woman said with an appreciative tone in her voice.
"It's not as cool a name as Cassandra Harkness I admit, but it is cool," Schmidt said.
"I thought for sure that you were going to blow things by calling the younger me that name. I don't remember you doing that before," the woman said.
"Yes, well. I forgot whether or not you were using that name when we were posing as tourists on this adventure or not. You use it a lot now when you go undercover," Schmidt said with a shrug.
"Just admit that you screwed up! You could have messed up Ari's entire timeline, you dunce!" a third voice said.
"Stuff it, Kosch! You know me, I always snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!" Schmidt said.
"More like the other way around most of the time!" the third voice said.
"Will you two dumbos please shut up!" cried out a fourth voice
The blue box slowly disappeared as the first woman's laughter could be heard echoing across the room and then slowly faded away.
Next: The fifth segment! Also, the sixth segment may be closer than The Doctor and Rose think!