Chapter 2 - Diversions
Pete had arranged for them to stay at a hotel in Bergen and for a car to transport them to the private Vitex-Zeppelin the next morning. The journey from the beach to the hotel felt endless and the Doctor was already itching to start growing his new TARDIS so he could keep such arduous slow journeys to a minimum. The deficiencies in transport weren't helped by the wave of exhaustion which hit their party once they pulled away from the beach, saving the multi-verses had rather taken it out of them (unsurprisingly) and the Doctor begins to feel his need for a post-regeneration nap mixed in with the needy cry of his new human form for sleep. 'Getting a regular 7 hours, well won't that be wizard' he grumbles internally, followed by silent complaint about the limitations of humans. He turns to Rose, tuning out Jackie who is sat in the front seat chewing off the poor cab driver's ear. The man nods politely only seeming to understand half of her English. Rose, on the other hand, looks exhausted but determined to fight it. He wonders how often she had been sleeping between her work on the dimension cannon and getting back to their home universe. In their previous life, he used to complain about how much she slept always keen to move onto their next adventure, but now he would insist that she got some proper rest, at least until their new TARDIS is grown.
Before he can voice his concerns and ask how she is feeling, she beats him to it. 'Always one step ahead' he thinks as she opens her moth to speak. "Are you okay, you're unusually quiet", she notes not quite meeting his eyes. "I'm always okay, well almost always…actually, I could do with a good forty winks, regenerations of any kind and void travel take quite a toll on Timelord bodies, let alone part-human ones. I'm surprised you're still conscious being completely human and doing all that dimension jumping".
"Oi you're also one of us too now", she replies. "And I am but..."
"What?", he says suddenly concerned at her dark (un-Rose-like) expression.
"Nothing," she says.
"I won't disappear, I am really here you know", he says taking a guess that this is as surreal for her as it is for him.
"Pinky promise", she says with a small smile on her lips and waggling a little finger.
"Scouts honour", he smiles, a little smug that he can still read the thoughts and emotions that write themselves on her face as plain as the day - at least that hadn't changed.
Jackie having momentarily ceased talking at the cabbie can't help overhearing their conversation and interjects, "Oh I wouldn't trust her girl guide honour Doctor, her and Shareen were kicked out when they were just Brownies…oh, your poor Brown Owl".
The Doctor laughs while Rose shoots warning daggers at her mother. He makes a mental note to ask for the rest of that story later on, "Why am I not surprised…I'd probably have been kicked out of the Scouts", he smirks.
"Far too much of a trouble-maker" Rose teases.
"Takes one to know one", he said replies indignantly, nudging her shoulder playfully.
The teasing brings a far more relaxed atmosphere to the car, and it isn't long before the Doctor feels a head on his shoulder followed by a light snore. As Rose drifts into the world of dreams, with one hand still in the Doctor's, his other hand reaches into his pocket to stroke the coral that the Timelord has given him. It makes the tips of his fingers tingle, he can feel the energy…the life radiating from it. He thinks of his original TARDIS, his one constant companion. If he had a second heart it would have ached at the thought but he doesn't. He scolds himself for the thought. telling himself that needs to remember that he is no longer a Timelord and that he does not have a claim on her now. He has a separate timeline to his Timelord self now, one that is branching off into another life, and soon he will have another TARDIS, but more than that, now he has what his Timelord self could never have – a full life with Rose. He had once called it 'the one adventure he could never have' and once upon a time the idea of a human life on the slow path for more than a few days would have filled him with more dread than a room full of weeping angels. Now though he feels something he cannot place, maybe it is the part of Donna and the humanity within him, but the urge to run and to wander feels almost dulled and for this moment right now sat with Rose he is content. His thoughts are interrupted when she shifts in her seat, her eyebrows knitting together with the tension in her forehead as if she is dreaming of unpleasant things. The Doctor touches her temple in an attempt to soothe her telepathically, however his telepathic and time senses haven't adjusted fully to the metacrisis yet so he settles instead for stroking her hair.
Jackie catches sight of them in the driver's rear-view mirror and smiles to herself. She looks at the Doctor's reflection catching his eye. "Thank you", she says her voice thick with emotion. It is then that the Doctor realises she has been crying with what seems to be relief. "I don't know if you both decided, you and the other him I mean that you two were to stay here, but either way thank you for bringing her back to us. I know it's what she wanted but I don't know what I would have done if she had gone back and I could never see her or hold her again not knowing if she was alive or … or" it is then that the emotion overwhelms her and she can no longer force out the words. But she doesn't need to, the Doctor nods and simply replies, "I promised you I'd always bring her back home".
"That you did sweetheart", she sniffles. She pauses before gathering herself, "Jesus look at me, I'm an emotional wreck, I swear I've just been a bag of hormones since I had Tony. Mind you, not that it wasn't worth it, I mean I know I'm biased but he's just so smart and special like his sister, I don't know where they get it from", she goes on.
Not wanting to be unkind, though also asking himself the same thing, the Doctor just smiles. "I can't wait to finally meet him; I can't imagine her with a little brother". He glances down at her sleeping form.
"Oh she's brilliant with him she is, like a second Mum. I can't wait to see her with her own...", she trails off blushing. "Well plenty of time to think about that…" she qualifies with embarrassment and quickly changes the topic, "excuse me, how long before we arrive at this hotel then?" she says addressing the driver.
"We're here", he says. Moments later they turn a corner and pull up at a very plush 5-star hotel.
"Oh, that man never does anything by half. I swear if he wasn't identical to my first Pete I wouldn't believe they were the same person", Jackie babbles. The cab driver shoots her a sideways glance that screams 'crazy-lady' and climbs out of the car to go and retrieve their bags. The Doctor chuckles to himself, shakes Rose's shoulder gently and moves a strand of hair behind her ear. "Rose, Rose, we're here. Wakey, wakey sleepy head".
Her eyes flutter open, a look of confusion then relief flits across her face as her brain catches up.
"Hello," says the Doctor with an infectious smile spread all over his features.
"Sorry did I fall asleep on you? Oh God did my mother talk you to death? Where are we?", she looks around trying to get her bearings.
"Weeellll, Yes, a bit and the hotel, come on", he says brightly hopping out of the car before offering her a hand.
Blinking back the sleepiness and pinching herself to check that she isn't still dreaming she grabs his hand and heads with him into the hotel.
They check in, sensibly under a fake name suggested by Pete, the corporation and Torchwood to minimise any unwanted press or public attention – something the Doctor had failed to consider having not fully grasped the extent of the Tylers' fame and public presence in this world. After being informed that their car will arrive at 9 am the next morning they are given two keys. Jackie heads off to her own room and leaves Rose and the Doctor to their own devices. The Doctor raises his eyebrows in surprise when he realises that Jackie is allowing himself and Rose to share a hotel room along with all the connotations that implies. Following their passionate kiss on the beach, he was half expecting another famous Jackie Tyler slap and protective Mother routine. "Well we really are in a different universe, your Mother hasn't given me a telling off in at least an hour and not a word about us sharing a hotel room, I mean…" he coughs and blushes realising his words are straying into unexplored territory.
Rose laughs at his coy expression. 'Over 900 years he's had to grow up and he still can't talk about sharing a bed without blushing like a teenager'. She, however, isn't surprised by her Mother's actions; she had always been very open with her Mum about sex before her time with the Doctor. Though the memory of some of the conversations after her pregnancy scare with Jimmy Stone still made her cringe. Also, her Mother had come round to believe that they had never actually been sleeping together on the TARDIS, though it had taken years to finally convince her. Rose blushes at the memory and suddenly feels butterflies in her stomach, 'would he want her in that way though , so soon?' the events on the beach and talk of a human life 'together' seem to suggest so – but it's all so unexpected and she has only technically just met this him. Deciding to steer the conversation in a less complicated direction she replies, "Yeah well there's still time yet, plus, we have some serious catching up to do, I want to hear everything that I missed!".
The Doctor thanks his lucky stars that Rose hasn't cottoned on to what he meant about sharing a hotel room. He feels like a teenage boy and more than just part-human. 'I'm over 900 for goodness-sake and it this is Rose, if we can save the whole of reality then these conversations really shouldn't be this difficult', he notes before realising, that the idea of telling Rose 'everything' she has missed may be somewhat of a tribulation, the memory of some of his actions in the recent years without her spark a feeling not far short of shame. He however responds jovially to try and buy himself some time, "That's only if you tell me everything that I've missed, starting with how in the name of Rassilon you built that dimension cannon – because I must say I'm impressed!", he grins pleased that he had managed to divert the conversation. However, Rose knows the Doctor all too well, human or Timelord, she senses that he is changing the topic, but she lets it pass not wanting to push her luck too far with this new more open man – it is still the Doctor after all. "Well then, how about we order up our food when we get to the room and I'll tell you about my academic adventures into trans-dimensional physics and particle theory if you tell me your favourite adventure with Donna", she says as they arrive at the door to their room.
The Doctor with wide eyes in awe again of her new-found knowledge and confidence is about to respond when they walk through the door to see in front of them two single beds, six feet apart with a bedside table between them. They both stop, looking at the beds and then at one another, before bursting out into a fit of laughter.