Chapter Eleven: Link to Home.
Series: Three.
Episode: Extras: Post - The Lazarus Experiment.
Martha's first night aboard the TARDIS as an official passenger was beyond ordinary and not fitting with the fast-paced life of the last few days, to say the least. First stop had been the medbay to sort out Martha's ankle and Rose's arm. A quick scan of both had revealed that Martha had a sprained ankle and Rose a broken bone. The dermal regenerator made quick work of the damaged tissue in Martha's ankle and with pain medication given, she was off to bed, exhausted from the day's events.
Rose jumped up awkwardly next, her broken arm making the action difficult and cumbersome. The Doctor administered the pain relief first - a device that looked like a cross between a pen and a syringe, but instead of a needle at the end there was a light - and with a similar device something to speed up the healing process.
Rose thought he might have said something about it being from a human colony in the 67th century but she couldn't be sure. Though the buzzing in her head had subsided once Lazarus had died and then disappeared altogether once they'd entered the vortex, she was still finding it difficult to focus. It'd been a long day.
The Doctor pulled out the familiar supplies for a cast and immediately got to work. Rose noted the tenseness in his posture and knew he was blaming himself for her clumsiness. She bit her lip indecisively. She wanted to tell him, he deserved to know and the guilt was eating at her. It wasn't his fault it was hers.
Just as she opened her mouth to tell him, he spoke. Eyes not leaving her arm, there was a level of concentration there that wasn't necessary for something he'd done so many times before.
"This is becoming a bit of a habit." He said, aiming for teasing but the tense hold of his shoulders belied his worry.
"Shouldn't have worn the heels. That was just asking for trouble."
There was a small quirk of his lips before the frown returned.
"Can't seem to avoid that lately."
Rose shrugged. "It's a good distraction."
The Doctor finally met her eye, and there was the regret and guilt she'd known would be there. Rose dropped her own gaze to the floor. The Doctor's hands were still on her arm, cast now finished but he'd yet to move.
"I forget sometimes that we can't just pop home for a visit." She stared at her shoes from where she'd dropped them on the floor, for a moment before lifting her gaze again. "I don't regret my decision. I want to be here, I love this life. And I know she's happier there than she ever was here. Just seeing Martha with her family just reminded me is all."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't. Don't be. I wouldn't change the way things happened. Like I said once, everyone leaves home in the end."
"But home isn't usually a universe away though."
Rose laughed, she couldn't help it. She stared at her lap for a moment, biting her lip.
"Before Canary Wharf when mum was in the TARDIS she was worried that when she was gone I'd have no reason to come back home. I guess I just feel guilty that she was right, the TARDIS is my home. I have no reason to go back. But Martha does."
A look of understanding passed over the Doctor's face.
"That's why you wanted her to come. A link to home."
"Sort of," Rose spoke honestly. "She is also brilliant."
"Yeah, she is."
They shared a smile at the thought of their newest companion.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting a link to home." The Doctor told her softly, "The TARDIS is my last link to home and the only place that's ever felt like home."
Rose stared at him, unable to keep the sympathy from her gaze. It wasn't that long ago that he'd lied to Martha about Gallifrey still hanging in the sky after all. But she'd never heard him speak of Gallifrey like that. She'd gathered that the Doctor hadn't exactly fit in with the Timelords based on what he said about them and how his actions contradicted that, but he'd never been quite so blunt about it.
She gave a small smile.
"I guess that makes us a pair."
"I guess it does." The Doctor suddenly seemed to realise he was still holding her arm. "Right then all done. We'll take it off in a week or two, you know the rules."
"Don't forget your waterproof sleeve." They said in unison, Rose's tone a tad mocking.
"I know." She said with a smile, hopping off of the table. "Night Doctor."
"Goodnight Rose."
Martha woke the next morning excited to begin the day. Her previous mornings on the TARDIS had been filled with the worry that it'd be her last but now she was here for good. Well not for good. She had to go back at some point. She still had every intention of becoming a doctor.
She got ready quickly with zeal, she practically skipped to the galley for breakfast. The Doctor was already there when she pushed open the door, tinkering away on the dismantled toaster. He only looked up briefly to flash her a smile before returning to his tinkering.
There was a plate of pancakes waiting on the table along with a steaming pot of tea on the counter. She quickly fixed herself a cup before taking the seat next to the Doctor facing the galley door. She added a few pancakes to one of the waiting plates before digging in.
It was a while before Rose joined them.
She pushed open the door with a groan, eyes only half open, still looking sleep rumpled. She stood in the doorway for several moments blinking blankly at Martha as her sleep-addled brain tried to register the fact that the young doctor was sitting in her seat.
It took a few moments but when she did, she collapsed into the third and final chair. Immediately resting her head on the table, cushioned only by her arms and she tried to block out the kitchen light.
Without speaking the Doctor slid over the cup of tea that had been sat beside him waiting for her.
Not lifting her head, Rose snaked out one hand from beneath her head to grasp the cup. Tucking it in against herself, allowing it to warm her cheek as she tried to wake back up enough to take a sip.
"Thanks," She said softly once she'd taken a sip.
"Not a morning person, I take it?" Martha asked, amused.
"You could say that," Rose spoke, eyes now fully closed as she rested her head against her propped up hand.
The Doctor snorted. "Rose can't function first thing in the morning without a cup of tea, learnt that the hard way."
Rose's brows furrowed, looking positively comical with her closed eyes, she put her cup down to swipe at the Doctor. Just missing him, she knocked one of his tools onto the floor.
"You seemed fine the last couple of days?" Martha pointed out.
"Wanted to make a good impression." Rose shrugged, taking a deep sip of her tea, "This generally doesn't." She said gesturing to her face. "But you're stuck with us now."
Martha chuckled. "Fair enough."
A comfortable silence fell over the trio as Martha ate, the Doctor tinkered and Rose attempted to revive herself with each sip of tea.
"So what's the plan for today?" The Doctor eventually asked.
"I fancy going swimming, maybe I can give Martha a tour at the same time. And we need to go food shopping, we were supposed to go after seeing mum but…" Rose trailed off. "And we're gonna need more food anyway now that Martha's joined us."
The Doctor nodded, in light of their conversation last night it hadn't been the response he'd been expecting but it had been a non-stop action couple of days.
"I need to do some TARDIS repairs, so we can go after."
Rose nodded, "Martha anything you need, just add to the list next to the kettle. We'll go somewhere on Earth so don't worry about it too much."
Once that was settled the two girls chatted amongst themselves while they ate.
After breakfast, the Doctor headed to the console room and the girls headed down the corridor deeper into the ship. Martha started talking the second they were out of earshot of the Doctor.
"So are you gonna tell me what happened? How you were able to do that glowy thing?"
"Later. I still need to figure it out for myself first."
Martha looked reluctant to let it go, she was already keeping two secrets from the Doctor for Rose, she'd at least like an explanation. But eventually, she nodded.
Rose gave her a thankful smile before launching into tour guide mode.
"The TARDIS likes to move things around, so there's not much point showing you where things are because they'll always be there when you need them. But you can generally tell a room by its door, as long as you remember the main ones you should be fine. Like I said before any unlocked doors are fair game and there are no common room doors that are TARDIS blue, those all seem to be bedrooms. Some doors have symbols or etchings on, most of the main rooms are sort of distinctive."
They stopped walking coming to a halt in front of a wooden door with an elegant fairytale scene etched into its surface.
"This is the library," Rose explained. "Or at least the main library. I've found at least two smaller ones but they're harder to locate."
With that said, Rose pushed open the massive wooden door to reveal a library spanning several floors with gorgeous stone archways and paisley printed walls.
In the right-hand corner beside the door was a little alcove, the full wooden bookshelves were built into the walls, below said bookshelves was a plush plum coloured velvet L shaped sofa. An inviting location to curl up with a book, Martha thought.
Along the same wall further down a grand fireplace crackled softly, a fluffy white rug sat in front of its hearth. A cream armchair had been placed behind the rug with its back to the fireplace and a matching long sofa sat to its right. A large oval wooden table had been set in the centre of them and two smaller circular tables lay at either end of the sofa.
On one of the circular tables, the one nestled between the right arm of the sofa and the armchair, Martha noticed a book waiting for its owner. Charles Dickens. A tale of two cities. Martha wondered who it belonged to.
"Woah. How many floors are there?"
"Eight. Impressive, right?"
"Yeah. Is it just alien books? How do you ever find anything?"
"There's a bit of everything in here. Fiction, non-fiction, Earth, alien. Everything. If you've got something in mind you'll always be able to find it. I'm not sure if she moves things around in here, I've never been able to figure out the order and have always found what I'm looking for after a few rows. I've not needed to go up to another floor unless I wanted to be up there or was just wandering."
Martha nodded, so awestruck by the vast library.
"Do you think I could borrow some?" Martha blurted without thinking, as the words caught up to her she blushed, looking sheepish as she explained. "I just mean, for studying. I'm not a doctor yet and I'm sure I could find a wealth of knowledge in here that I couldn't find on Earth."
Rose laughed.
"You're welcome to read anything. The TARDIS seems to reshelve things once you're done with them. You'd have to ask the Doctor about taking them off of the TARDIS though. But yeah take what you like. You can read them in here or your room or the kitchen, wherever."
"I'll do that," Martha said a little breathlessly at the idea of having all this information at her fingertips.
After a few more moments of gawking, Rose took her hand and tugged her from the room.
"Come on. More to see."
The next door they came to was a soft brown door that swung open with ease. The room consisted of large plump brown sofas and an even larger screen. The left-hand wall was taken up with cases that resembled that of DVDs. The room was done in soft warm shades of brown and beige giving it a cosy feel. There was a tray left on the low wooden table in front of one of the sofas. An empty tea mug and a similarly empty plate all that was left on it.
"This is the media room," Rose announced.
"You've got a TV?" Martha asked a little perplexed, how did that work?
"Yep, picks up all the basic channels from Earth and other planets," Rose said from where she'd moved to sit on the back of the sofa.
"You get alien channels? What, is there Martian EastEnders?"
Rose laughed. "No. But there is Venusian."
"You watch alien soap operas?"
Rose shrugged with a smug little smile.
"This is mad," Martha said, gazing about the room.
"That it is. Welcome aboard." With that Rose jumped up and walked back out onto the corridor.
Martha was slow to follow her out, taking her time to ponder the enormity of last night's decision to join the travelers. She was still lost in her thoughts when she took note of the coral lattice that made up the walls of the corridor. The golden light that emanated through the gaps was familiar. Reminding her both of the roundels in the console room as well as the way Rose had glowed last night.
Maybe she had been a little hasty in her decision to join them. She didn't really know anything about them. And the life they lived was so very dangerous. But she'd never felt more alive than in the few days she'd known them.
Back home, she felt constantly torn between the two warring sides of her family that had been prevalent ever since her parent's divorce and she really had nothing in her life outside of her work. Tish was right, socialising really hadn't been a priority as she tried to find her feet as a training doctor. And since losing her sister Adeola she really hadn't wanted anything else.
This life was a breath of fresh air. And she didn't have to worry about the detriment it'd do to her career because she could be back tomorrow or in a year and nothing would have changed.
She needed this.
She was pulled from her thoughts by Rose stopping in front of another door. How long had it been?
This door almost seemed to be made of moss, but when she outstretched out a hand to touch its surface it felt exactly the same as the coral walls beside it.
"Weird, right?"
"Yeah, what is that?"
"No idea."
They laughed at that.
"I think I tried asking the Doctor once, but I may have fallen asleep." She shrugged. "The ship's alive and moves things around, I've just learned to accept things. It saves time." With that, she pushed open the not moss door.
"Is that…" Martha trailed off.
"Yep. It's an orchard. There's a couple of them on board, they all have the mossy doors, some have flowers on them as well."
"I'm sorry. How can there be an orchard on a spaceship?"
"Something about regulating something or other." Rose tried to explain in a tone that clearly indicated that she hadn't bothered to remember. "Like I said, you just-"
"Learn to accept it. Yeah, I'm starting to get that."
Rose laughed.
She pulled the door shut before coming to an immediate stop in front of a smooth, gleaming white door. Beside the door, there was a big green button embedded in the wall. The door slid into the wall at the press of the button. She didn't step inside of this room, just leaning against the door frame as Martha peeked inside.
"The medbay."
"Right, we were here last night. I didn't really get a good look at the door."
"I figured as much. Probably one of the most important rooms. Especially for you doctor Jones." Rose pressed the button again, causing the door to slide back shut before continuing down the corridor again.
It took Martha a moment to realise Rose was walking again before catching up with her.
"Not a doctor yet."
"You were doing your residency, right? Well, I'm sure the Doctor will tell you that with me on board that it'll feel like you never left the hospital."
"That bad, huh?"
Rose shrugged nonchalantly.
"I don't like waiting for him to save the day when it's so much more fun to wander off and figure some things out myself." She turned to look over her shoulder at Martha as she spoke the next words. "Remember that. Although he says not to wander off, sometimes you need to. Figure things out so much quicker if you do. The Doctor misses things sometimes, dismisses things that don't seem important to him. That's why he needs someone to point them out."
"Got it. Wandering off is good." Martha said with faux seriousness.
"Exactly," Rose said in the same tone.
They managed to maintain an air of seriousness for all of about five seconds before they started laughing.
They pulled themselves together as they came to another door. This one seemed to be made of a type of woven fabric. What fabric? Martha couldn't say for certain, it was unlike anything she'd seen before.
"This is the wardrobe room. We were in here yesterday too. Never ask the Doctor where it is, he'll give this really long-winded route when really the TARDIS'll just put it where you need it."
"Right. Does anything have an actual place?"
"Hmm. I don't think so. I mean the kitchen is always on the corridor just off of the console room but as you saw your first day here, she'll move that too."
Martha nodded, trying to wrap her head around that. Martha was a big fan of proper organisation and structure. The idea that any room could be anywhere at any time was a little too stressful for her.
"Hey," Rose said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. If you want things to be in a certain place, the TARDIS will move them for you. Just don't think about it."
"Okay." Martha chuckled in relief.
"Okay. Let's head to one of the swimming pools. I'll meet you at your room and we can find one together."
"There's more than one?"
"Oh yeah definitely. There's a basic one with just a pool and hot tub, there's one that looks like a waterpark with flumes and everything, there's one with a mini waterfall, there's a spa one, one with purple water and I think one with projections of fishes in the water."
"Wow."
"Yeah. Go big or go home I guess."
Without realising it they'd reached Martha's room. Martha's door was a glossy burgundy red reminiscent of her leather jacket and etched into its surface in black was the outline of a crescent moon. She'd not seen Rose's door but she kind of loved hers. It was perhaps a bit weird to feel so strongly about a door. But the whole room seemed to encapsulate her perfectly.
"See you in ten minutes?"
"Yeah. Sure." Martha spoke a little distracted, this ship was baffling.
Rose patted her on the shoulder with a smile before disappearing down the winding corridor. Likely to her own room.
Taking a deep breath, Martha pushed open her own door. Now she just had to find her swimming costume.
It took up maybe five of the ten minutes but Martha finally managed to locate her swimming costume from within her luggage. She'd almost considered not bringing one. Swimming didn't really seem to fit in with this life of running and adventure. But Rose had insisted that she'd need at least one. So she'd shoved in a black strapless one piece.
She changed quickly, slipping on a violet swimming cover-up over the top. She located her sandals next and slipped those on too. She was just finishing pulling her hair up as a knock sounded on her door.
She opened the door to see Rose standing there. She was wearing a white strapless dress with pastel stripes, the bright pink straps of her swimming costume peeking out over the top with white and beige flip flops. Her hair was still hanging around her face, not as rumpled from sleep anymore. A canvas bag matching her dress sat on her shoulder.
"Ready?" She asked with a smile.
It was difficult to imagine that Martha had ever wondered if Rose hadn't wanted her here. The friendliness in which she interacted with the universe just seemed to be woven into her nature. But it was just as difficult to imagine her wielding the kind of power she had used last night to keep Lazarus at bay.
But both of those things were true.
And all of those questions that Martha had pushed to the back of her mind during the tour came rushing to the forefront again.
Lost in thought, it took her a moment to realise she hadn't responded.
"Uh yeah." She said grabbing her towel. "Ready."
Rose's smile had softened into something more resembling understanding before she turned on her heel and led them down the corridor.
They came to a stop in front of a door that appeared to be made of glass with a wavy patterned gracing its surface. But despite its appearance, Martha couldn't see into the room beyond.
There was a silver switch next to the door that looked very much just like an ordinary light switch, but when Rose pressed it, the door slid up from the bottom, disappearing into the top of the door frame.
Without hesitation, Rose stepped straight into the room one the door was high enough for her to walk under. The hesitancy Rose lacked, Martha had in spades, worrying the door would drop back down on her as she stepped under. But it wasn't until she was fully in the room that it slid back down again.
Nonetheless, she continued to stare at it warily for several moments. In the meantime, Rose headed over to the wall that ran adjacent to the door which was half-filled with lots of narrow light wooden cupboards for storing towels and such. The last half of the wall led to shower cubicles far nicer than any found at a public swimming pool.
Rose dumped her bag in one of the cupboards, her dress and sandals quickly following.
When Martha turned away from the door it was to the sound of splashing as Rose entered the water. Martha turned away with a smile, heading to one of the white pool lounge chairs. She perched on the white and red striped cushion as she considered her questions.
Meanwhile, Rose swam a few laps up and down the pool. Content to ignore the questions she knew Martha must have for the moment. She knew she couldn't avoid it forever so she would take these few moments while Martha tried to gather her thoughts.
"Last night. What you did. You were glowing. That happened." Martha finally said.
Rose swam over to Martha, resting her arms on the pool ledge as she thought.
"Yeah, that happened."
"And what did happen? How could you do that?"
Rose sighed, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear.
"A while ago, I did something stupid and it changed me. I don't know how I did what I did. I couldn't let him kill you and it just…" She trailed off unable to find an adequate explanation. "Happened."
"Rose," Martha said seriously, the implication of what Rose had done hung heavy in her tone. "You kept a ten-foot mutant scorpion suspended mid-attack without touching him."
"I don't know how. It wasn't me. Okay yes, it was me physically, but that stupid thing I did? It bonded me to the TARDIS or something, that power was all her. I've never done that before I didn't know I could. This is all still new to me. I'm still trying to figure it out."
Martha was silent for a moment before something else occurred to her.
"When we were on the moon. That Judoon said you were non-human. Minor chrome mutation or something."
"Chronon. Yeah, I guess whatever I did altered me somehow."
"You don't sound very sure." Martha pointed out.
"It's only really been a month since this all started."
"But you said the thing you did, happened a while ago. Does the Doctor not know?"
Rose leant back in the pool, letting the water seep into her hair as she stared at the ceiling thinking.
"About a year ago the Doctor was in danger and he sent me home. I had to get back to him and I would have done anything to do it. And I did. I ripped open the TARDIS and stared into her heart. We were temporarily one. That power you saw? That was her. That's what it was like last time. But more. So much more powerful then.
"Anyways, I saved the Doctor and he took it out of me. We both thought it was over. Then something happened at Christmas and it sort of reactivated? I'm not sure exactly. And no he doesn't know. The TARDIS told me not to, something about jeopardising timelines. And I've tried. Believe me, I've tried." She let out a bitter laugh at that, "But every time I try, she removes the memory and I get sort of sick. I don't know why she's letting me tell you."
"Removed your memory? How can she do that? And how do you know any of this? I mean clearly, you don't know everything so why do you know part of it?"
"The TARDIS is telepathic, it's how she translates everything into English. But that's just surface telepathy. I'm guessing what I did strengthened her telepathic capabilities and so she has more access." Rose shrugged. "I was in a sort of healing coma at Christmas after whatever it is was awoken. The TARDIS sort of appeared like a hallucination and explained some of it. Foreknowledge is a dangerous thing so whatever's coming in the timelines, that means I can't tell the Doctor, is probably the same reason I can't know everything."
"If it's telepathic can't you ask it?"
"The TARDIS is telepathic, I'm not. I'm still human. Whatever this telepathic connection is, it'll be one way. Like she can translate for us but we can't understand her."
Martha nodded trying to absorb everything she'd been told. Rose laid back in the water, just floating on her back for a moment. Part of her was glad to finally get this off her chest.
It wasn't long before Martha had thought of more questions.
"But how does it work? Do you always have that power?"
Rose laughed.
"You ask a lot of questions. No, I don't. It's only happened twice and it's only ever temporary. Once at the hospital and then with Lazarus. And I felt sort of sick around the Carrionites but I think that's just feedback."
"At the hospital?"
Rose tried not to shift uncomfortably; she didn't want to risk going under.
"I saw glimpses of a timeline. Like snapshot moments of what was going to happen. They weren't clear and it wasn't everything it was just for a moment."
"And you couldn't change things from what you'd seen. Except for cheap tricks." Martha said repeating what the Doctor had told her the first time he'd invited her along.
"Essentially."
Silence fell over them once more with Martha mulling over everything she'd learnt and Rose trying not to let panic set in at Martha's silence.
"Okay." She said finally. "I won't tell him."
No longer floating, Rose stood to face Martha.
"Thank you. I know it's a big ask and it's a lot. But I appreciate it."
"Of course." Martha smiled.
They just smiled at each other for a moment, the weight of Rose's secret hanging between them.
"How long do you think the Doctor will be busy for?" Martha asked.
"At least an hour." Rose chuckled.
"In that case, I think I'll join you."
Nearly two hours later the TARDIS lights flashed notifying Rose that Doctor was almost done. Pulling herself from the pool, she headed for the showers, wanting to rinse the chlorine off before heading to her room.
She bid Martha farewell as she headed to her room to change and brush her hair out.
It wasn't long before she was walking into the console room, entering with the shopping list at the same moment as the Doctor pulled himself up from under the console.
"Ready?" The Doctor asked once he spotted her.
"Yep. But could you…" She trailed off showing him the hairbands and hairbrush in her other hand.
"Sure."
Smiling, Rose plopped down sideways on the captain's chair. The Doctor sat behind her taking the hairbrush from her hand he set to work braiding her hair.
Two french braids later they were ready to go.
They ended up at some random UK supermarket in the near future to avoid running into anyone Rose knew. Rose had commandeered the shopping trolley despite the Doctor's complaints. For someone who was supposed 900 odd years old, he could act like a child if given half a chance.
Getting everything on the list didn't take long. The most time-consuming part was convincing the Doctor to put stuff back.
"Doctor we don't need ten boxes of custard."
"But Rose what if we're stranded on Axotn 5 and the only way to escape is to bargain for our freedom with custard."
"First we'd have to get Axotn 5. Put them back."
"Rose look!"
"No one is going to eat pickled eggs, Doctor. No."
The Doctor dropped something into the trolley. "And these." He announced.
"Caviar? Doctor, that's not on the list. Stick to the list."
"Doctor why are there car fresheners in the trolley."
"They might be useful."
"We don't have a car. Stop."
It was like shepherding a child through a sweet shop. Except the child wanted to buy safety pins, engine oil and pickles.
Eventually, they made it back to the TARDIS. The Doctor wanted to dump everything in the console room for the TARDIS to sort but Rose wasn't having that. Her mum's words still lingering in her mind after last night and this morning's conversation. She was still human, she would do things the human way.
Despite his complaining, the Doctor eventually joined her in the putting away of the shopping. A couple of times Rose had to rearrange some of the items the Doctor had been in charge of putting away. But overall it went smoothly. Until they realised they'd have to get all the ingredients they'd just put away back out to prepare dinner.
Finally finished with the simple task of groceries, they collapsed into two chairs at the table. Prepared to just sit there until dinner needed to be served up.
Rose bounded into the console room the next day to see the Doctor fiddling with the controls as he stared at the monitor. Martha had disappeared after lunch to do some more exploring in the library, Rose had managed to focus on her book for about an hour before she'd wandered off.
The Doctor had been sort of absent all day, tucked away in his workshop, this was the first time she'd seen him. But she'd known he'd been up and around because just like always, her cup of tea had been ready and waiting for her in her usual seat when she'd woken up this morning.
She plopped down onto the captain's chair, the springs creaking as she did so.
"What you working on?" She asked, hoping for a distraction, she did so love to hear him talk.
"I was just thinking." He couldn't seem to look at her as he fiddled with one of the controls. "About what you said the other night."
Rose cast her mind back trying to decipher what he could be referring to. Thankfully she didn't have to as he finally finished what he'd been trying to say.
"About wanting a link to home, a reason to come back. And I just thought," He reached up to scratch the back of his neck "You might like to see Sarah-Jane." He shrugged.
Rose smiled a little. She hadn't thought that much about her words that night. Yes, on the one hand, she did feel like she was failing her mum by leaving Earth behind and becoming that little bit less human in the process. But the TARDIS had been her true home now for quite some time.
The idea that the Doctor had been thinking of ways that he could give her that connection to home sent the butterflies she usually tried to ignore fluttering.
She'd visited Sarah-Jane a handful of times since meeting the woman, there were very few people who could understand the life she lived and she'd been in desperate need of a confidante. Shareen and Keisha weren't options for obvious reasons, and her mum would just try to convince her to stay home. But Sarah-Jane understood.
"I'd like that."
Rose tried to ignore the nerves that settled amongst the butterflies as the Doctor piloted them to Sarah-Jane's. It was easily done, the excitement winning out. As soon as they landed she turned to the doors, intent on ignoring any nerves she may have.
But although she bounded down the ramp upon their arrival, she hesitated once she got to Sarah-Jane's front door. Maybe they should have called ahead? Warned her of their arrival. Maybe she was out?
She knew that wasn't true though as her classic mint green car sat still in the driveway. Yet she couldn't stop herself from looking back at the TARDIS as she gnawed at her thumb.
Rose shook her head, she was being ridiculous. Before she could talk herself back out of it, she raised her hand to knock on the white wood of the door.
"One moment." A familiar voice called from behind just before the door swung open. "Hel-"
Sarah-Jane froze mid greeting as she caught sight of Rose.
"Rose?" She spoke softly, her voice heavy with a confusing amount of sadness.
"Hi, sorry for dropping in lik-" Before she could finish what she was saying she was enveloped in a tight hug.
"I thought you were dead. I did an investigative piece on the aftermath of Canary Wharf and I saw your name on the list of the dead. And no one's seen you! What happened? Where've you been?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry Sarah-Jane I didn't think. If I knew you'd see that list I would have come by to explain sooner. I'm fine, I've been with the Doctor."
"What about your mum?"
Rose sighed. It was still a sore subject and she didn't know how to begin to explain.
"How about we go inside? You can explain over a cup of tea."
"That sounds nice."
So as she sat at Sarah-Jane's wooden kitchen table, a cup of tea warming her hands, she told the story of the Battle. Told her everything that had happened since they'd last spoken. Losing Mickey, the Beast's prophecy, LInDA targeting Jackie, meeting Donna and bringing Martha along.
"Should have known you'd two would be behind the draining of the Thames and the return of the hospital." Sarah-Jane teased.
Rose let out a half-hearted chuckle.
She hadn't realised just how heavily everything had weighed on her until she'd had to relive it all.
"I've got something to tell you and all."
"Oh yeah?" Rose asked with a smile, curiosity peaked.
She knew Sarah-Jane didn't keep out of trouble even though she was Earthbound she couldn't wait to hear what the other woman had been up to.
Just as she opened her mouth to explain an unfamiliar voice called through the house.
"Mum?"
Rose looked at Sarah-Jane with furrowed brows, a question in her eyes as she looked down the corridor in the direction of the voice.
A lanky boy of thirteen stumbled into the kitchen. Silencing Rose further at his arrival.
"Meet Luke," Sarah-Jane said feebly.
Rose opened and closed her mouth a couple of times as she tried to formulate her thoughts into a coherent sentence. She cleared her throat to try again.
"When we first met you said you didn't have kids?" Although it was a statement it sounded more like a question as it left her lips.
"I didn't." And with that Sarah-Jane launched into the tale of her encounter with the Bane and Luke's subsequent arrival in her life.
"Wow. You don't do things by half do you?" Rose chuckled, she turned to the teenager. "I'm Rose, nice to meet you."
"You know about aliens too?" Luke said.
Rose blinked at the bluntness of his question both amused and taken aback.
"Uh yeah. Me and Sarah-Jane have a mutual friend that sort of introduced us to this life." She briefly explained once she'd gathered herself.
Luke seemed to accept the explanation.
"Was there something you needed, Luke?" Sarah-Jane asked her son.
When Rose returned to the TARDIS hours later she felt lighter than she had since she'd lost her mum. Sarah-Jane had made her promise to visit more frequently now that her mum and Mickey were gone. Rose had tried to argue, not wanting to impose on the woman.
But she'd insisted, admitting she got lonely stuck on Earth unable to share her secret with anyone. And well Rose couldn't exactly refuse after that. Hadn't she thought the exact same thing when the Doctor had suggested it?
So she all but skipped back into the TARDIS, a pep in her step as she thought of her promise to Sarah-Jane.
Yes, the TARDIS was home but she was human and the Earth would always be part of her. She needed that connection to her humanity, to her family and to her past. And what better person than someone who'd lived this life already?
The Doctor was still stood at the console staring at something on the monitor he looked up once she made it to the top of the ramp.
"Ready to go?"
Rose nodded with a smile that felt more genuine than it'd been in weeks.
The Doctor sent them into the vortex with practiced ease. Once the shaking had abated, Rose stepped up next to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug that he quickly returned.
"Thank you. I needed that."
"Anytime."
"So where next?" She asked with a grin.
Everything may have changed but she still knew where she belonged. By the Doctor's side as they ran hand and hand throughout time and space
A/N: Quick lil filler. I swear I haven't forgotten about Shareen and her dinner plans, we'll come to that. I wanted to get the domestic stuff done first it's a lil longer than I intended. Next chapter will be another little interlude but with an actual adventure so look out for that. Anyway, let me know your thoughts in the comments. See ya next chapter :)
Comments:
Guest Who:
I do intend to keep writing this story, its my baby. I've been working on it on and off for years before I moved it to other platforms. I've only picked up bits and pieces about the behind the scene stuff as I was a kid when the reboot first aired. Thanks for the suggestions! I'll keep that in mind for future writing and check them out
Ace of Spies:
Thank you my main goal with this rewrite is to try not make either character feel redundant or ooc while still trying incorporate as many fandom headcanons as possible. One of the things I love about fanfiction is getting to explore the emotions of characters thats going on behind the screen. Rose and Martha have very different background and are very different characters so theres bound to be some conflict/insecurities imo. I agree martha is a bit of a third wheel in this dynamic both in canon and so far in this story, I hope to add some more girl bonding in here in the future.
I read a lot of supernatural/fantasy stories growing up and ive always enjoyed the implications and consequences of having power because while a character may be able to do incredible things they also risk their health/life at the same time so they have to decide whether that power is worth that risk. So thats why I added drawbacks and cus like you said shes not human and even with alterations she is still fundamentally human the power the tardis contains is held within an entire dimension rose doesn't have such luxury.
She will eventually have more control over it in the sense of being able to use it with more intent, but it is essentially emotion driven so there will always be a sense of lack of control especially as the power she holds is technically a symbiotic relationship its not technically hers to do as she wishes. Theres limitations to her power and ive been trying to outline in my head exactly what they are because she essentially holds the power of time in her hands but theres not an awful lot of tension in that and shes still human she needs limits.
I was worried how people would take the tardis' manipulation cus its definitely a loss of agency for rose. but the main things is that the tardis isnt human she doesnt have the same morals and principles as rose or us. she sees the universe through the lense of timelines and probability and while she does have a connection to the doctor, and will manipulate the timelines in his and roses favour it doesnt hold the same emotional depth that human might give it. she does whats necessary to keep them in the right timeline she doesnt see it as morally wrong or even as a necessary evil its just what needs to be done. action and consequence thats all it is to her.
i get what your saying about the dialogue, i would like to go off script more often and sometimes i feel like i shouldnt drift. i wanted to get these first few adventures out of the way before straying from canon. theres going to be a while without tardis interference that'll allow rose to forget and relax so shell have more impact on the plot rather than being so afraid of sticking to the timeline and not altering anything.
i agree things definitely would be different with roses presence but i dont think that in canon if rose had still been there martha would have come so i needed rose to be wary of the alternative timelines which i think in the end is quite in character for rose. she did create a paradox by interfering with timelines in the past she is going to be wary of the eventuality. but yeah hopefully after their little break we can get some deviations