F/O: Heh, it finally gets interesting! g Hope you like!
Chapter Three.
"Rose, it's OK, you're safe now." A familiar voice. She opened her eyes blearily, looking straight into worried brown ones.
"Who -?"
"It's me, the Doctor." He replied reassuringly. "It's OK. You had a rather nasty knock."
Did she? She couldn't remember. She remembered a world of a myriad of lights, of a kiss that was made of light and softness, waking up to the Doctor. He had been worried, saying things she didn't want to hear. Talking incoherently about planets and dogs with no noses and dying. She remembered that.
At her frown, he elaborated. "I regenerated, remember? I was dying, and I had to change my body. I told you."
Did he? The frown faded slowly, and she nodded drowsily. Must be true, he was the Doctor. The Doctor would never lie to her.
Don't listen to him! The strange thought was muted as it passed across her languid thoughts. She paid no attention to it.
"Come on Rose, let's get you to bed. You could do with some rest."
That sounded like a good idea. Nodding again, she felt herself dragged upright by the Doctor, and tried sluggishly to help as he gently led her to her bedroom. As she woke up slightly in the change of environment, she turned to the Doctor, and suddenly noticed he seemed different.
"Where are your clothes?"
"The jacket?" she nodded. "I changed them. Didn't fit me anymore. I can get them for you, if you like?"
Rose smiled at his honest face, and was happy to see it returned. He looked so worried about her, so concerned about her wellbeing that any other stray doubts fled away. Lying down on the bed, she drifted off into sleep again, feeling his hands lift the covers over her.
This time, however, she did not fall into darkness.
The TARDIS felt her mind, slow and drugged and called out. She knew it would be hopeless, but tried anyway, trying to keep her foothold in Rose's human mind.
The sentience of the ship listened as the impostor persuaded Rose, in her drugged state, who he was, and fumed, nearly blowing some of her wiring in the process. However, when she felt that mind turn once again to sleep, she acted quickly, and pulled Rose out, into her warm embrace.
Rose blinked at her surroundings, her head now clear. She quirked an eyebrow at the familiar sight of the park near where she lived, and turned as she sensed a presence behind her.
"OK, this is either some sort of weird dream, or I'm goin' nuts," she said finally, gazing with wide eyes at, well, herself.
Identical in every way, down to the dirt on the inside of her trainers, the pseudo-Rose smiled back.
"No, you're not goin' nuts." She replied, in Rose's voice. "I thought you might be happier with me like this."
"The TARDIS?" Rose asked, amazed, and the pseudo-Rose nodded. "Well, great time and space vortex thingy that you are, can you not look like me? This could be kinda awkward."
The other Rose grinned, and disappeared. Rose turned fully around, looking for another person, then froze, swallowing.
"That's not funny," she said in a carefully controlled voice as the Doctor strode up to her, leather jacket lifted by the imaginary breeze. He frowned.
"Why? I thought you'd be happy to see him?"
Rose smiled despite everything: a time machine - a sentient time machine - still couldn't really understand her mind.
"Don't you have some normal form?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes briefly, then disappeared the same way the other-Rose had a moment ago.
"I'm not changing this if you're unhappy with it." Another female voice came from behind her, and Rose turned to see a young brunette, clad in a simple blue dress.
Rose grinned, and nodded. "Right. So what's goin' on?"
"You were drugged," the woman replied, shrugging and leading them both over to the park bench where Rose remembered sitting with Mickey, sharing chips on Sunday afternoons, a lifetime ago. "He's managed to persuade you he's the Doctor."
"What!" Rose exploded, standing suddenly. The TARDIS stood with her, and placed her hands on Rose's shoulders.
"Rose. Listen to me – we won't have a lot of time. Back there," she gestured somewhere down and right, presumably meaning back with the impostor, "I can't talk to you. You won't hear me, and you'll go along with whatever he says. You can't fight it," she said before Rose could interrupt. "I know you're strong, but whatever he's using is getting past even me."
"What can we do?" Rose was at a loss. Drugged, and only able to get out in dreams.
"You can't fight him out there, but you can from in here." The TARDIS replied. "I'm going to redirect some of my energy resources to you, so when you're asleep you can get out."
"Like astral projection or somethin'?" Rose asked, thinking of Shareen and her 'new age phase'.
"Sort of. You won't be able to talk to anyone, but I need you to do some things." The intelligent woman then talked for a while, giving Rose a long and detailed explanation of things that were slightly beyond her. Occasionally Rose nodded, but eventually, she just sighed with exasperation.
"Isn't there an easier way of doin' this?" The woman looked taken aback, and frowned. Then she looked Rose up and down, a calculating look in her eyes.
"Maybe. We can try. Give me your hand."
Rose did so, vaguely noting that though she looked human, this woman was warm – too warm, and she could feel the vibrancy of the vortex underneath her palm. Then the warmth in her mind unfolded and expanded, stretching out across her mind. Figures and numbers and calculations flashed across her memory, and Rose had to blink for a few moments after it had stopped, slightly overwhelmed.
"What the-?"
The TARDIS looked smug. "The easier way. Now you can fly me. And here's what we will do…"