A/N: I dunno. It always seems to me that the Rose side of things is never as interesting to peeps as the Doctor side of things...
For the time being (not too long I hope) we will flip between them. A chapter each... Things are happening on Gallifrey. Things are happening for the Doctor. two roads are slowly coming together.
Fires of Pompeii with a Groovykat twist coming up next.
I hope you enjoy this one!
~~oooOOOooo~~
Alirra was still fussing and crying, forcing Rose to try and carry her on her hip while pushing the stroller back home. She couldn't find the hands to use her key to open the door, and instead rapped her knuckles against it. Inside a moment, the door was pulled open and Braxiatel stood on the other side, his brows high on his forehead with surprise.
"Forget your keys?" he queried with humour in his voice. He noticed his niece's apparent discomfort and held out his arms for her. "What seems to be bothering Alirra?"
"Close call," Rose huffed in reply. She handed Alirra to her uncle and shook herself, taking a moment to brush her clothing in an attempt to straighten it out after being assaulted by little kicking feet and flailing hands. "The Doctor, he was just 'round the corner…"
"He didn't see you, did he?" Braxiatel barked out urgently. "You didn't speak to him?"
Rose wore a grimace of frustration as she shook her head. "No, Brax. He didn't see us, and I didn't wait around for a quick catch-up over tea." She folded up the stroller with angry movements and practically shoved her way past him to get inside. "Which is why your niece is so torn up right now." She kicked off her shoes with far more force than was necessary. "Because she sensed her father's presence, knew he was there, and wasn't able to see him."
"Seems to me that Alirra isn't the only one torn up by that," he remarked rather coolly. "I don't believe I've seen you this side of rude outside of giving birth to your children."
She pun on him, fury in her eyes. "That's because I denied her her father," she snapped. "He was probably only fifty feet away from us, Brax. Not even that." Tears filled her eyes. "All I had to do was call his name, let Donna know to … to …" Her voice shudder as her hand lifted to her eyes and wiped with a gentle shift of her palm. "He was right there, Brax."
He nestled his fussing niece's face into the crook of his neck and bounced just lightly to try and settle her. "So he's with Donna now," he said quietly on a long breath. "Good."
Rose heard it in his voice: a complete lack of surprise. She used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes and steadied herself. "That doesn't surprise you."
He looked down along the hallway for a moment as though to check they weren't being heard, and then looked back to her. He kept his voice quiet. Only loud enough for the two of them to hear. "Bad Wolf isn't the only being in the universe capable of manipulating lives and timelines," he said firmly.
Rose's eyes flashed. "I'm sorry, what?" She leaned into him, her brows pulled tightly together into a frown. "What are you talking about?" She looked around them with worry in her eyes as though looking for a camera or a bug placed by the Bad Wolf to make sure they were behaving themselves. "But we can't. You said so."
He gave a huff of a laugh. "I'm a Time Lord of the Prydonian Order," he growled. "A specialist at finding any loophole and widening that hole into a mighty chasm to serve my own manipulative purpose." He jostled the now calming child on his hip. "She threatened my family, Rose. My brother, my niece and nephew…" He held up a hand to draw the back of his fingers down from her temple to her cheek, then cupped her jaw in a gesture so much tender than his words and voice would have suggested. "My sister..."
She held his hand at her cheek with both hands and breathed his name softly.
"Her control over your pathways has an end," he assured her. "And I'm going to manipulate and control everything I can, just outside of her peripheral, to make sure that when it's safe, my family will be reunited." He let one corner of his mouth tip up into a somewhat dangerous smile. "Thete isn't the only one of the two of us who likes to play with the rules a little."
Romana's somewhat amused voice chimed in. "Play with the rules, Brax? You and your brother prefer to ignore any ruleset completely." She eyed him up and down. "Particularly you, husband. Your defiance of the rules that don't appeal to you make the Doctor look like a saint by comparison. At least he makes an attempt to follow them – half-arsed attempt though it may be."
"I find the loopholes," he corrected her with a sly grin. "And I walk the line carefully on that, I'll have you know."
"Of course you do, dear." She looked toward Rose with concern in her eyes. Her head tilted to one side. "Rose? Are you okay?"
Rose's face contorted into a face of complete upset. She pulled away from Braxiatel's tender touch and launched toward Romana. The force of impact was enough to throw the surprised Time Lady backward a stumble, but she recovered quickly to embrace this now sobbing woman. She looked toward Braxiatel with wide eyes full of question.
"Thete," he advised her on a quiet tone. "He was … close."
"Oh," Romana gasped out with a nod of her head. She tilted her chin in toward Rose, tightening their embrace. "I'm so sorry, Rose."
He walked toward the pair on his way to the kitchen and paused at his wife's side. "I now question the decision to place our little sister so close to Thete's companion."
Romana shot him a look. "Because if for any reason she and the children are in danger, he will be close by."
"Yet we are to ignore the danger of him being that close by," he chirped in reply.
Rose pulled back from Romana and wiped at her eyes. "You can trust me, Brax," she assured him. "I – I won't let this sacrifice we've made be in vain by breaking the rules." She huffed out. "though a heads up about it would have been appreciated, and probably much less of a shock."
"She can't know," Brax warned her. "Your friend. Donna cannot know who you are to him."
"Braxiatel's right," Romana cautioned her. "You humans and your caring…" she sighed. "She won't be able to hide it from him."
"You say that like you lot don't have feelings," Rose said with a smile. "Yet the two of you prove otherwise." She swept her hair over her shoulder with a full sweep of her flattened palm. "But yeah, I get it." Her head lowered. "Of course that'd mean he'd have to talk to her about me, and if my own experience with him proves anything, it's that he doesn't like to talk about former companions."
"Then I think it to be a good thing that your Bad Wolf friend forced him to forget about you," Braxiatel gruffed. "With him not knowing he has not only a wife in you, but children…" he saw a guilty look on her face and moved in close to her. "Rose?"
"He knows," she admitted with a wince.
"I'm sorry, he what?"
Her face was a contorted expression of regret. "After Australia. The Doctor – my Doctor – didn't remove the memories of me and Mark from his elder self's mind." She looked up to him with apology. "He knows that he has a wife and at least one child."
"And so he'll be looking for you," he said with a wince and a sigh. "Well, this just got more complicated."
Romana shook her head. "No, not really. If we assign a permanent travel capsule here in the home, then we can shield the property with a bio-dampener and a perception filter." She rubbed at her chin with thought. "Which might not be a bad idea given the current circumstance and potential for Rose to require more room than this house can offer right now."
"That is a good point," Braxiatel agreed with a firm nod. "And rather easily arranged, of course. There are several older and less temperamental capsules available who would appreciate the opportunity to rest in silence for the time being." He shifted Alirra to his other hip and pulled a phone from his trouser pocket. "I'll contact the shipyards and arrange a transport. I can have a capsule here within the hour, and can have the shields in place before we leave in the morning."
Rose looked in between the two of them, and how quickly and flawlessly they were able to counter off a potential threat to their carefully put together planning. She thought back to what Romana had said and one line knocked at her consciousness asking to be addressed.
"Romana," Rose said carefully. "For what reason may I be requiring more room?" her eyes flashed and she looked toward her abdomen with a smile of excitement. "Are you pregnant?"
Both Romana and Braxiatel looked to her with matching expressions of horror. "I think not," Romana answered with a measure of disdain as her arms shifted to cover at her mid drift. "Braxiatel and I would much rather not make a grandiose announcement such as that to the planet that we've engaged in the physical act of mating." She straightened herself up to a more regal posture. "Any children that are to be sired will be done so via the looms, so as to keep our privacy toward such matters intact."
Rose shifted a look to Braxiatel, who had turned a delightful shade of crimson. "And you say I always make it easy for you." She shook her head. "I don't even know which part of that comment to start with."
"Might we move on?" he managed with a croak in his voice.
"Indeed we must," Romana said with a shudder. She looked back to Rose and bit at her lip when she caught the amused sparkle in her eye. "I imagine this topic will be picked up again later over wine?"
"Oh yes it must be."
She nodded and tried to hide the smile that was tickling at her lips. She managed it effectively enough with a clearing of her throat. "As to why you might need more room, Rose. Please, follow me to the kitchen."
Rose's amusement fled toward curiosity. "Okay."
"Do be warned that there are currently several people seated at your dining table," she advised with a swallow. "Most of them members of my council, and my most trusted confidants."
Rose made it to the doorway and stopped short. Her jaw dropped to find a group of at least seven people seated at her dining table. Their ages varied, as did their race and gender, and they seemed to pour over a series of documents and schematic diagrams that littered the tabletop. Through the wide glass doors that led to her backyard, Rose could see five travel capsules parked in no paricular order or formation.
"A T-time Lord party?" she stammered out. "In my house?"
Seven sets of eyes lifted to look at her, all of them holding a different set of questions and emotions toward her presence. She felt immediately uncomfortable and took a small stride backward, turning her head to speak with her Brother in Law. "Erm, Brax?"
He strode into the room with all of the confidence of a man who couldn't care less what any of them thought about him. He still carried Alirra on his hip, who was now fast asleep and drooling against his neck and lapel.
"My fellow Lords and Ladies. For those of you who haven't yet met my Sister, allow me to introduce Lady Rose – the soul-bonded partner of my brother and mother of his children."
"My condolences for that," one of them remarked with a chuckle. "Human, I will wager."
Braxiatel slapped the joker across the back of his head with the back of his hand. "What are you; new? Lady Rose resided with him on Gallifrey for near a decade until they were cruelly ripped apart. I will ask you to show some consideration moving forward – particularly as we are currently meeting in her home."
The guilty Time Lord rose to his feet and gave her a small bow both of greeting and apology. "Ahh, yes. Do accept my apologies, Lady Rose. I'm quite fresh off my fifth regeneration. My mind is still muddled and functioning ineffectively…"
"You say that like it doesn't usually function like a leaking valve," another Lord said with a smirk as he rose to his feet and moved around the table toward Rose and Romana. His hand was extended in greeting. "Hello Rose, it has been a long time."
She held out her hand for a firm shake and looked at the man with a shortening of her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't recall you and I ever having met."
"Andred," he answered her with a dip in his head down toward his chest, wincing when he realised just why she didn't recognise him. "Ahh, yes. That's right. I regenerated."
Rose launched forward to pull him into a hug. "Andred! Oh, it's been so long." She pulled back to give him a decent look over. Her lips pursed with appreciation. "Gone from dark and handsome to blonde Glam-hairband-boy bombshell. How's Leela faring with this new you?"
He flicked his blonde pony tail over his shoulder and looked at her through pinched eyes. "It's been a good fifty years since my regeneration, Rose. I think she's used to me by now."
"Fifty, what?" Her eyes were wide and she shot a look toward Braxiatel, who was now seated at the table and shifting the toddler in his arms for comfort across his knee. "Brax, I only saw them last year. A week before Bad Wolf." She dipped her chest when he closed his eyes and shook his head. "My God. How long's it been on Gallifrey since we left?"
"Best we don't touch to much on that, Rose," he answered, "lest it make you upset."
"Too late." She looked at Romana, impatience flaring in her eyes. "How long?"
"One hundred and fifty years, Rose," she admitted. She held her hands upward. "Braxiatel and I drop into your timeline a couple to three times a year in our own time"
"I should have worked it out," Rose sighed to herself with a rub of her hand down her face. "How it is that I can have at least one of you here every day for me and the kids. It makes sense." She looked to Braxiatel and the tender focus he had on Alirra on his lap. "And how he doesn't seem to tire of giving them attention."
"I wouldn't even if our timelines were in perfect synch," he muttered without looking at her. "These children are inside my hearts." He shot a glare up to the other people at the table. "And I will have none of you make any remarks toward the negative toward my feelings about my niece and nephew, am I understood? I am – as you all well know – perfectly capable of killing each and every one of you in such a way that makes regeneration will impossible."
"Threat noted," one of the other men seated at the table remarked coolly. "And quite unnecessary. I couldn't care less if you loved or hated the children, Lord Braxiatel. I'm far more concerned with other items of far more superior importance than giving you a good teasing."
"Hear hear," a woman said with agreement. She looked toward Braxiatel. "And If your methods of halting regeneration could also be extended toward resurrection, I would be grateful for that knowledge."
Another Lord, this one who looked to be no older than about seventeen years of age, let out a quiet and indescribable sound of annoyance. "Rassilon. By the hand of Omega, who'd have thought they'd try to resurrect him?"
"Heading into war," another chipped out. "And Rassilon is a legendary warrior."
"Legends are just that, Neral," he shot back. "Stories with little to no actual substance toward truth."
Rose watched the verbal tennis match take place for a moment, keeping up as best she could. Finally she looked to Romana with confusion on her face. "What's going on?" She walked to the fridge to get a cold bottle of water. "And why are you all camped out here?"
Romana followed her into the kitchen. She kept her eyes on the group seated at the table on the other side of the breakfast counter. "War with the Daleks is approaching Kasterborous," she said quietly. She turned back to face Rose. "There are rumours surrounding council that they want to try and resurrect Rassilon."
"Hold on, you guys can do that?"
"Not really," she answered with a hard sigh. "Not outside of the matrix at any rate." She took the bottle of water from Rose and drew back a long mouthful for herself before handing it back to her. "But the matricians are insisting it's possible. With an unwinnable war looming, they're going to grasp at straws searching for any hope at all to win." She swallowed. "Rassilon is a legend amongst us all. One of our founding fathers. Who better to resurrect outside of the matrix to lead our society to victory?"
Rose heard the fear inside Romana's voice. "The Doctor didn't speak all that kindly of Rassilon."
"Not too many of us do" she agreed. "Not the legends and stories surrounding his later incarnations anyway." She looked to her husband. "Braxiatel has always been a firm believer that Rassilon was all that is good…"
"He spoke of his collection containing the scrolls of Rassilon."
Romana nodded. "But that level of devotion and respect is only worth to bestow upon him if the man is dead – and stays dead." She tapped her fingernails on the tabletop with obvious worry. "Even Brax worries what will rise if they succeed with the resurrection. Noone knows or respects his legend more than he does, and even he says it's a monumentally bad idea."
"How will it effect your presidency?"
"I won't be President," she answered. "Not once Rassilon rises." She paused to take a breath. "I will be viewed a competitor and will likely be exiled to some outstation to die quietly."
Rose gasped, but she didn't speak.
"Which is why I invited these Lords and Ladies to your home this evening."
"You need a safe house?"
Romana nodded. "Somewhere off planet. Somewhere safe. Hidden. These Lords and ladies are my most trusted members of council. We've agreed to meet and form a resistance of sorts. Perhaps find a way to move behind the scenes to assist in ending the war without too much bloodshed or collateral damage." She turned her back to the group, leaning on the counter. Her face remained looking toward Rose. "I should have asked, I know that, and I apologise if I overstepped."
"Of course not," Rose assured her. "If you need to use my home as a safe house – an outpost to the war and Rassilon's rule, then I'd insist you do it." She smiled. " My home is yours."
"Thank you, Rose," she breathed out long. "We are a small group for now, but I will expect our numbers will grow – which is why I worry for your ability to house whomever may come."
"A TARDIS in the corner will do the trick," she said with a shrug. "Which covers off accommodations. Food? Well…." She hiccupped to see her son suddenly burst into the room, with another young dark haired lad hot on his heels. "What the?"
"Marson," Andred snapped. "I thought I told you to behave yourself."
"I am, Father," he said with a dip in his head. "My apology, however, Mark did lead the charge."
"I did," Mark agreed with a nod. "Sorry about that, Sir."
Rose watched her son and his new friend cop an admonishment from Andred with wide eyes. "He and Leela had another?"
"Third," Romana answered. "All boys. Marson is their youngest." She chuckled. "Leela says that if and when you and the Doctor can finally be reunited, that you have some catching up to do."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Rose breathed out. She leaned down onto her elbows at the counter when two scruffy young faces popped up over the table. Their eyes were wide and their breaths short. "What can I do for the two of you?"
"I'm hungry,' Mark answered shortly. "Can you make me something to eat." He thumbed to Marson beside him. "And him, too. Be a bit rude if I ate in front of him and all that." He turned and leaned his arm against the back of his chair to look toward the table. "Probably have to make them something too so we aren't rude to them."
"I'm not a mess hall," she chided him. "I'm not cooking for an army."
"We can order pizza," he chirped with a smile and a bounce in the chair. He looked at Marson. "Have you had pizza before? It's so gooooooood. It's all meaty, and then stringie, and you have to pull it really far out when you take a bite." He extended his arm from his mouth as though pulling a slice of pizza.
Marson looked up with his brows seated high. "I've never tried it. It sounds like fun. May I have pizza please?"
Rose's mouth slowly formed an "O" shape and she counted off how many people were in her kitchen right now. "I'll order delivery," she said with a shrug. She looked toward Braxiatel. "Brax! Toss over your credit card."
He looked up. "I'm sorry?"
"And not your Gallifreyan one, your Earth one."
"Why would I give you my credit card?" He tilted his head and a frown crossed his features. "Are you low on funds? Do I need to head back and arrange another few investments for you?"
"I'm ordering pizza," she answered with a chuckle. "And if I'm plannin' on feeding all you lot, then you're paying for it."
