Unto the Universe

Chapter Thirteen: The Doctor's Wife: The Junkyard

By Lumendea

….

Rose hummed softly as she put the last of the breakfast dishes away in the cabinets. Beside her, the Doctor dried off his hands and leaned against the counter of the small kitchen. Jack had already wandered off, and Rose glanced over at the Doctor only to find him looking at her.

"I can see the gears turning in your head," Rose said. "What's worrying you?"

"I'm worried about that headache you had," the Doctor admitted. He brushed his fingers gently over Rose's temples, not initiating any contact beyond the physical. "That crack was strange, but I don't understand why it affected you that way."

"It might not have been the crack," Rose pointed out. "We were in an unusual place with a neverwere. A lot was happening. It could have been an old-fashioned stress headache." Rose gave the Doctor a tongue touched smile. "Humans get those, you know. And it was three days ago; I've felt fine since. Well, since we got dry."

The Doctor smiled a little. "Not like you to get stressed."

"Well, it was a dark and stormy night. The atmosphere really added to the experience." Rose reached up and covered his right hand with hers. "I'm fine, Doctor. Feeling completely normal. And I was able to keep my shields up for that whole event, so my control is improving."

"That's good, but the Darsons weren't using psionic attacks."

"Baby steps," Rose reminded him. "You said step one was being able to keep a shield up without having to think about it."

"That's true," the Doctor sighed a little. "Just… let me know if anything else unusual happens. What happened on the Game Station…" the Doctor's uneasy expression saddened Rose, and she wished that she knew what to say to reassure him. "It doesn't seem to have affected you, but I don't understand how it couldn't have."

"I'd say try not to worry, but I know you," Rose said. "But I'll tell you if I notice side effects."

"Thank you."

The Doctor leaned forward and kissed her softly. Rose leaned up into the kiss and brought a hand up to his neck. There was no urgency in the kiss, and Rose enjoyed the quiet moment together. With their life, it wouldn't be long before something happened. The Doctor pulled her closer to him and hummed happily, the sound seeping into Rose's bones. They were safe in the TARDIS, and Rose felt completely at ease. As much as she loved their exciting lives, it was nice to have this space to fall back to.

"Have you practiced today?" the Doctor asked gently, pulling back.

"Not yet," Rose admitted. She held back a sigh and smiled. "Not at my best before breakfast."

The Doctor chuckled, the sound warm and at ease. Rose wished for a moment that she could always keep him this happy and relaxed. They'd come such a long way to get to this level of comfort and happiness. The Doctor brushed a stray hair behind her ear and studied her face intently, and Rose's happiness lessened. She knew that he was memorizing her face, even if he wasn't doing it consciously. Rose held back a sigh.

Things weren't all sunshine and rainbows. Their lifespan difference still haunted the Doctor and Rose… well, Rose wasn't sure. She knew a little too much about their future to be sure of anything. If nothing else, she knew that her aging would be slowed, given that she hadn't looked that much older when Astra was going to be a teenager.

"Do you want to help me practice?" Rose asked softly, smiling up at the Doctor.

"We didn't get much practicing done last time I helped," the Doctor reminded her. His ears reddened, and Rose grinned.

"It's a distraction challenge," Rose replied. "I have to keep my shields up even with you distracting me."

"Me distracting you?" the Doctor echoed. "I don't think that's how it went, Rose."

"Funny, it's what I remember."

"Hmmm, that might be a side effect of the Vortex," the Doctor said seriously though his blue eyes were bright with amusement. "It's affecting your memory, darling." He blushed at the endearment, but it was all Rose could do from grinning at the familiar term.

"Darling, huh, I like it."

The Doctor blushed even more, but Rose could tell he was pleased. She was too. Those old worries about her future unraveling didn't plague her often any longer, not now that they were together properly, but every sign that things were on track made her happy.

"Doctor!" Jack shouted down the corridor ending the moment. "I think you need to get to the console room!"

The Doctor immediately pulled away, a frown taking over his face. He and Rose exchanged a quick look before they both rushed out of the kitchen and towards the console room. Jack was standing next to the console and staring at the door rather than anything on the display.

"What happened, Jack?" the Doctor demanded.

A rapping sound on the door drew everyone's attention back to the door. "That happened," Jack said, gesturing at the door. "Someone is knocking on the door."

"Aren't we in the vortex?" Rose asked uneasily.

"Unusual, yes," the Doctor agreed as he walked over to the door. "But not unheard of."

The Doctor opened the doors, and Rose peered out only to see a small glowing box. She couldn't see the Doctor's face, but his entire posture changed, tensing up as his hands shook. Taking a step closer, Rose watched the Doctor pick the box up and draw it into the TARDIS. He turned towards the console, clutching the box with a look of caution and disbelief.

"Doctor, what is it?" Jack asked.

"A message through the Time Lord emergency messaging system," the Doctor answered. His tone was carefully neutral, and Rose was certain he was trying not to get his hopes up as he studied the box. "In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space via the vortex. I haven't seen one in…" he trailed off and shook his head before a slight smile appeared on his face. "But this means that there is another living Time Lord out there."

His hands were shaking. The Doctor was staring at the box with both awe and grief. Rose moved closer and put her hand on his arm, already worrying about what impact this could have on him.

"Doctor," Rose called gently. "Breathe, please, breathe for me."

The Doctor took a shuddering breath that shook his body. Jack was watching from around the console, keeping an eye on the controls but also offering silent support. Rose was grateful for the distance. This had overwhelmed the Doctor.

"There's another Time Lord," the Doctor said. "It's not just the Monk and me."

"That's good, isn't it," Rose said. "You said you knew this Time Lord, were they the good sort?"

"Not as vocal as me, but yeah," the Doctor replied. He was starting to smile, and Rose could see the manic energy beginning to build behind his eyes. "They're a good sort."

"How can you tell who it is from?" Rose asked.

"See that snake?" the Doctor tilted the box so that Rose could see the symbol covering the surface. It was an Ouroboros, a snake swallowing its own tail. "The mark of the Corsair." The Doctor shifted away from Rose and went to the controls, setting the box down on the console. "Fantastic bloke, bit of a mentor of mine. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times."

Rose blinked at that information but quickly shook it off with more important things to worry about as the Doctor started adjusting the controls. Something here wasn't fitting, and Jack didn't look comfortable either.

"But you said that you'd know if there were other Time Lords in the universe," Rose said. "So, how could you have missed the Corsair?"

"According to this, there is a pocket that he retreated into," the Doctor explained in a rush. "We're going to have to shift out of the universe."

"Shift out of the universe?" Jack repeated. "What?!"

"How can you leave the universe?" Rose demanded.

"With enormous difficulty," the Doctor answered. "I'm burning up rooms in the TARDIS to manage! Now hold on!"

The TARDIS shook and rolled, sending everyone scrambling for a way to hold on. Rose slid away from the Doctor and grabbed onto the pilot's chair while Jack clung to the railing. Their eyes met across the room, and Rose could see that Jack was just as worried as she was. Loud crashes down the corridor made Rose grimace. Normally the TARDIS did a good job of shielding the rooms, but this time it was clear that she wasn't able to.

Rose's skin crawled. She shivered and shuddered as a foul taste filled her mouth. It stuck to her tongue and filled her nose, disorienting her before it passed. She looked at Jack and the Doctor, but neither of them showed any signs of having experienced that. The uneasy feeling in Rose's gut intensified.

…

The Doctor knew the moment they had landed that something was wrong with the TARDIS. He rarely relied on the soft noises she made to navigate how the old girl was doing and instead focusing on the low intensity but strong telepathic link he had with the ship via the Rassilon Imprinter. As the TARDIS landed with a crash, everything went still and silent. He had only a moment to worry before the lights dimmed and his link flickered weakly.

"What is happening, Doctor?" Jack asked. The man's eyes were on the walls as the light faded. "Is that meant to happen?"

"No," Rose answered, a quiver in her voice. "It isn't."

"The power is draining," the Doctor managed to say. It was more serious than that, and regret crashed over him. What if, in searching for another Time Lord, a sane Time Lord that he trusted and respected, he had killed his TARDIS. And trapped them all outside of the universe. Would the Guardians be able to help Rose here? "Everything is draining," the Doctor continued. He leaned forward and watched the readings on the console. Resting his hand against the metal, the Doctor felt the heat faded away. "The Matrix… the soul of the TARDIS, is gone."

Both of his companions flinched and stared. They, more than most of those he had traveled with, had some sense of what he had said. Rose's eyes were wide with horror and confusion. She reached out and touched the console with a quivering hand. He took some comfort from that. Rose had gotten glimpses of her future, of his future, and the TARDIS was a part of it. That didn't guarantee anything, but it was enough to help him keep breathing.

"Right," he managed. "We best look around."

Jack looked like he was going to say something, but the Doctor shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it. Not this. Fear for his oldest friend, longest companion, and partner in running through the universe was in danger. If he could reverse this as Rose's glimpses of the future suggested, then he needed his wits. The Doctor would not allow the last TARDIS in the universe to die now, not like this.

…

They stepped out of the TARDIS and into what could only be described as a junkyard. The sky above them was bleak and dark, leaving Rose unsure if there was even a sky or if they were inside some sort of massive enclosure. It wouldn't be the strangest turn her life had taken. She sniffed at the air and curled her nose in response.

"Smells like…"

"Armpits," Jack supplied. "Stale."

"This place is full of rift energy," the Doctor offered. He turned and patted the side of the TARDIS. "She'll probably refuel just by being there at least."

"What about the matrix?" Rose asked.

"Not sure yet," the Doctor replied carefully. Rose wasn't sure if he was trying to protect them from the truth or not.

"Where did all the junk come from?" Jack asked as he lightly kicked a hunk of metal near his foot.

"This is a rift," the Doctor explained. "All of this has been sucked into. This is the universe's drain."

"Thief! Thief!" a feminine voice rang through the air. "You're my thief!"

A woman in a ragged dark dress was running toward them with three figures chasing her. The woman has wide, wild eyes that matched the general state of her. Tattered clothing and messy hair were the first things Rose noticed about her before noting that the woman moved in rapid but limited motions as if she wasn't sure how long her legs or arms were.

"She's dangerous," one of the pursuers, a woman, shouted. "Guard yourselves."

The woman ran straight to the Doctor, looking at him with happy eyes. "Look at you. Goodbye. No, not goodbye, what's the other one?" Then she lunged forward and kissed the Doctor.

"Oi!" Rose snapped.

The man who had come running up grabbed the woman and pulled her back from the stunned Doctor. His expression almost made Rose laugh. Almost. Behind them was an Ood, standing silently and watching them. Rose was uncertain if it was a slave or not, but her stomach turned at the memories of the Ood Sphere.

"Watch out. Careful. Keep back from her," the man said. He smiled and nodded to them. "Welcome, strangers. Lovely. Sorry about the mad person."

"Why am I a thief? What have I stolen?" the Doctor asked the woman.

"Me. You're going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing me. Oh, tenses are difficult, aren't they?"

"Oh. Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She's off her head. They call me Auntie."

"And I'm Uncle. I'm everybody's Uncle. Just keep back from this one. She bites!"

"Do I?" the madwoman asked. "Excellent."

The woman grinned, looking truly thrilled at the… Uncle's words. Then she lunged at the Doctor before Rose could block her and bit his right ear. She released it immediately, and the Doctor pulled back.

"Ow!" he complained, but the woman just smiled.

"Biting's excellent," the woman declared. "It's like kissing; only there's a winner."

"There can be a winner with kissing," Jack said with a small amused smile. Though, Rose noted that he was watching the new arrivals with cautious eyes. "And consent is important," he added.

"Very important," Rose agreed. She stepped up beside the Doctor. He wasn't hurt, just seemed more confused than anything. "And this one is mine."

"Oh, no," the woman said firmly. "He's my thief. We share him."

Rose opened her mouth to protest that she most definitely didn't share the Doctor, but then the woman's eyes locked onto hers. The woman's eyes bored into Rose's, and a familiar song echoed in her brain. But it wasn't coming from the woman. It was coming from someplace else. Blinking, Rose tried to shake the song, but it was there. The TARDIS's sweet and haunting song.

"You're my Wolf," the woman breathed. A smile overtook her face. "All pretty and glowing."

"We best get her back to her home," Uncle said, beginning to reach for the woman.

It clicked in Rose's head with such force that she almost heard the sound, and it actually hurt. She was stunned, but yes, her mind told her she wasn't wrong. Somehow, this woman was the TARDIS. This was their TARDIS, and these people were reaching for her.

Pushing the woman behind her, Rose summoned her sword and brought it up in front of her. The strangers all slowed, surprised by its sudden appearance, while the woman, no the TARDIS, laughed behind Rose gleefully.

"Rose?" the Doctor asked. It wasn't accusing, and he took a step back towards her. "What is it?"

"Doctor… don't you know?" Rose was shocked that he didn't know. That he hadn't heard the song, but… Game Station. "This woman is the TARDIS."

"What?" Jack gasped.

"What?" the Doctor echoed.

"She is the TARDIS," Rose said. "You said the essence was gone, sucked out. She's where it went."

The strangers all looked uneasy, and Rose was very sure that she wasn't supposed to have figured that out yet.