Unto the Universe

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Seekers of Truth: Counterparts

By Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any spinoff material, and I gain no income from this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

AN: I hope all of you are doing well! Thank you so much for the wonderful comments on the last chapter. I promise that nothing in this episode will contradict the Glimpse. There is a plan.

….

They stared at the woman. Rose was torn between amusement, excitement, and worry. On the one hand, this was a future Doctor that she'd never met, and that was always a pleasure even if she was a bit surprised that the Doctor would be a woman in the future. But, the Doctor rarely interacted peacefully with himself, and today they had to be very careful about trying to lie. Even if they could under the pressure of the telepathic system, there was no telling what the side effects might be.

"No," the Doctor beside her growled. "You shouldn't be here."

"Maybe it's you who shouldn't be here," the woman replied. Then she beamed at Rose before a thoughtful frown flickered across her face. "Oh, are we at darling yet?"

"We are," Rose replied with a smile of her own. "I didn't think you'd change into a woman."

"Yes, you thought it was overdue," the future Doctor tilted her head. "I thought you were surprised when I regenerated, but I guess you had spoilers for this regeneration as well." She huffed and pouted a little. "I thought I'd finally surprised you."

"Well, you just did surprise me," Rose replied. "A good surprise," she added quickly, making the future Doctor's smile widen.

"What are you doing here?" Rose's Doctor demanded. "And is… is Rose still with you?"

"Checking out the pyramid, just like you and yes, well, not with me at the moment, obviously," the future Doctor said. She gestured to the empty space beside her, looking a touch sad. "She disobeyed rule one again."

"Your rule one," Rose countered. "Our rule one is don't panic. I think it's a better rule one."

"Agree to disagree," the future Doctor said with a wave of her hand. "Either way, a strange pyramid that is making people of the area tell the truth and has been suppressing rebuilding. Quiet a mystery isn't it."

"You shouldn't be here!" the Doctor huffed. "Both of us-"

"Ah, come on," the Doctor whined. "The Gold Guardian is here; it'll be fine. Oh, the Gold Guardian twice over. Normally, that doesn't happen." She paused and tilted her head. "Has that ever happened before… I'm not sure it has, but then again, memory gets strange whenever I cross my own timeline."

"Not another feral moron," the Doctor grumbled.

"Please, please, don't start," Rose sighed. "Pyramid causing problems remember?"

"Right," the blonde Doctor said. She shoved her hand in her pockets and rocked on her feet. "Found anything interesting yet?"

"Visited a village," the Doctor replied. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Their village is built in ruins, which keeps them a bit elevated. None of them speak and wouldn't let me use sign language. Seemed peaceful otherwise."

"Really?" the future Doctor beamed. "That is interesting!"

She was stopped from saying more by the sound of someone or something moving in the jungle. Rose tensed as both she and the Doctors looked over that way. But the future Doctor just smiled warmly. Rose sucked in a sharp breath when another blonde woman stepped out of the jungle. This one she immediately recognized as herself. Her older self was dressed simply in jeans and a t-shirt with a jacket tied around her waist. A shoulder bag hung across her torso, and her hair was tied up in a crown braid, with a few strands having come loose. The star knight sword was in their hand and had helped her clear a path. Their eyes met, and the older Rose blinked in surprise.

"Well, that's unexpected," she said. The woman released her sword, which returned to bracelet form. "Odd that I didn't notice you. This telepathic field is really messing with my sense." Walking over to the future Doctor, she took their hand and smiled at Rose and her Doctor. "But it's nice to see you." Before they could say anything, she turned to her Doctor. "Sorry, Alice called," the older Rose said. "I figured I could take our daughter's call quickly."

"Oh, how is she?" the future Doctor asked eagerly. "I mean, I know she's alright, but details!"

"She was just checking in, my love," the older Rose replied. "No news. Said to pop by for dinner if we can, though. She'd like to see us."

"I hope that's not a bad sign," the future Doctor remarked. "Athena and Astra never ask us over for dinner. You don't think she's got bad news, do you?"

"Yes, well, you know that Alice is a bit different from her sisters. And she is living in one place and time. I think she gets a bit more bored than she likes to admit despite working on the Collection." The future Rose chuckled. "And neither of us can even keep up with where Aurora is."

"France, last I heard from her," the future Doctor said. She frowned a little before recovering. "But yes, dinner with Alice sounds lovely. We'll finish up here and go and see her."

"Who's Aurora?" Rose asked, her brain fixating on the unfamiliar A name. "Is she another…?"

"Daughter with his," the future Rose gestured at the Ninth Doctor, who was watching with a slack jaw. "Eleventh self. We tend to have sets apart."

"I call them litters," the future Doctor said with a laugh. "You know, like wolves," she added, gesturing at Rose. "Three usually in quick order, so they have playmates, and then we talk about it again in a few centuries, usually after I've regenerated."

"Gives me enough time to forget the challenges of raising our children," the future Rose said drily. "Rebuild my strength."

"I still think we should have another litter," the future Doctor said. "We didn't have any in my last incarnation."

"Because our grandson was having children," Rose laughed. "We were busy being great-grandparents. And you weren't interested in having a baby in that body. Too busy trying to convince everyone you were grumpy. And failing."

"Yes, well, and I think we should be new parents again; I'd be brilliant at it."

The future Rose's smile softened. "You've always been brilliant at it, Doctor."

"And I was thinking that we could use the name Andromeda. Brilliant name; honestly, I'm surprised we haven't used that one yet. Andy as a nickname!"

"We'll talk about it when we get home," Rose said gently. Her smile was soft and full of affection. "But let's focus on the pyramid right now, love. We're already overwhelming our past selves."

"Right," Rose's Doctor coughed. His eyes were wide, and he was more off-kilter than Rose had ever seen before. "So, what do you know about the pyramid," the Doctor demanded of his older self. "You've been here longer."

"Not much yet," the Doctor replied. She shrugged and was much more relaxed with the situation than her younger self. "We haven't met any locals, but we've been checking out the nearby ruins for clues. Noticed the telepathic pressure and experimented with lying a bit without much success. The biodiversity on the planet seems to have taken a hit, with no signs of animal life beyond the humanoids. Soils fine, but definitely doesn't carry traces of recent animal life."

"You tested the soil already?" the Doctor asked.

"She eats dirt," the older Rose explained. There was a long-suffering but slightly amused look on her face.

"It helps!" The Doctor insisted.

"Of course, dear."

"You're what I regenerate into." Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand and squeezed. He sighed and rolled his eyes while the older Doctor pouted a little. But she didn't argue back or insult him, which Rose noted with interest and surprise. "Fine. Okay, no point in dwelling on that."

"I'm the thirteenth body if that helps."

"It does, actually." The Doctor brightened and tightened his grip on Rose's hand, staring at her older counterpart. "So, we have another of these telepathic pyramids which might have killed off all the animal life as a side effect of its truth field. It's possible that less developed brain structures couldn't cope with the telepathic field, and it definitely caused a civilization collapse."

"Sounds about right," the Doctor agreed. "The question is why this pyramid is so different from the one on Earth. I assume you saw those odd pillars." When her counterpart nodded, the Doctor grinned. "That's a different feature. Was this pyramid a new style meant to be an upgrade and something went wrong, or did another culture or species weaponize their own culture against them?"

"Either sounds possible," the older Rose said. "Though, weaponization seems more likely. If they'd done it themselves, then they would have known that was the source of the problem and been able to fix it."

"Do you think this was their home planet?" Rose asked her older counterpart.

She frowned at the question, and there was a slight flash of gold in her eyes. Rose hissed, taking in a sharp breath. This woman was an older and more experienced Gold Guardian. Rose had been so distracted by a future, unknown Doctor that she hadn't even considered the ramifications of that. Was it safe for two versions of a Gold Guardian to be in the same place? When she'd crossed her own timeline in the past, she hadn't been the Gold Guardian yet.

"I'm not sure. There are a few possibilities in play here." The older Rose grinned at both of the Doctors in turn as she pulled a torch from her bag. "We best take a look."

A laugh-filled Rose's chest, but she kept it in check and pulled out her own torch. Her Doctor was still staring at their future selves with a difficult-to-read expression. Rose didn't blame him. The two older versions had just dumped a lot of information.

"Is this safe?" Rose asked suddenly, voicing her worry. "Two of us here. The Doctor at least has regeneration to soften the strain, but we don't."

"We're a Guardian of Space and Time. We're fine." Her older self smirked a little, her expression otherwise very calm. "I've got things under control."

"That just happened to me," Rose admitted. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Well, I'm several thousand years older than you, and I do. Don't worry." Her older counterpart gave Rose what she could only describe as a motherly reassuring smile. "As for the memory situation… we'll discuss that later. Who knows what's going to happen today? It may resolve itself."

"So, you don't remember this?" the older Doctor asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Nope," the older Rose answered, popping the p. "But as I said, we'll see what the day brings before worrying about that."

It wasn't as reassuring as Rose would have hoped, but this was a much older version of herself who, in theory, knew how to do the whole Guardian thing. She couldn't help but wonder how the years between her now and her then would develop regarding her Guardian duties. Their older counterparts moved to the stone door of the pyramid and opened it with the help of a very different-looking sonic screwdriver.

"You okay?" the Doctor asked her softly.

"Yeah," Rose answered. She dared to look at him and found him staring at her with a stunned expression. He was trying to hide it, but his blue eyes were full of wonder. "You?"

"Bit overwhelmed." He shook his head. Rose could see emotions churning in his blue eyes and a sense of wonder and shock in the turn of his smile. "This is a bad idea. We should go back to the TARDIS and let them handle it."

"Except the TARDIS brought us here," Rose pointed out. "She's careful about paradoxes, so we probably need to be here. And a more experienced Gold Guardian doesn't think there's a problem." She shrugged, unsure of what else she could say or do. This was not a situation that she'd been expecting. "At least we're in a romantic relationship," Rose added. "That would have been really awkward."

The Doctor laughed at that and shook his head. Taking her hand, he threaded their fingers together, and they followed their counterparts into the pyramid. Rose squeezed his hand and took a deep breath, determined to get through this temporal oddity. Her older self wasn't worried, so it was fine. Probably fine. Then again, apparently that Doctorate dirt so Rose didn't feel guilty about the little bit of doubt brewing in her chest.

A long corridor made of stone with carved images and words stretched out before them. The blonde Doctor raised her sonic screwdriver and fiddled with it for a moment. Then tiny lights set into the ceiling sprang to life, casting light through the hallway.

"That's different from Earth," Rose said softly.

"Not sure we even checked in that one," the older Doctor laughed. "Always check for a light switch. It's my rule. Well, it's a new rule as of today. I think it'll be a good one."

"I've gone manic again," the Doctor grumbled.

"You're always manic, my love," the older Rose replied. She offered him a tongue touched smile over her shoulder. "It's just a question of the ratio of manic to your other marvelous attributes."

Rose wasn't sure if she should be jealous of the way the Doctor flushed at her older self's flirting. No, she decided quickly. Being jealous of himself was more the Doctor's thing than hers. Shaking her head, she told herself to focus on the pyramid. The older Doctor and Rose were already examining the walls with open curiosity and interest.

"It's a record," the Doctor beside Rose said. "Looks like history."

"That's an interesting combination," the older Rose said. "History and a requirement for absolute truth." She snorted. "Good luck achieving that."

"This place is still running after all these years," the Doctor said. "The easiest solution is to shut it down."

"Sudden loss of the telepathic field could have serious consequences for the population," Rose's older self pointed out. She didn't look happy at her own statement. "If we could find some kind of controls and make adjustments…."

"Oh, like remove the truth field and program a gradual decline of the telepathic field," the older Doctor cheered. "Control room it is!"

"We got to the heart of things last time by lying," Rose reminded them. "Should we try that again?"

"Could be even more dangerous," her Doctor said darkly. "If this is the homeworld, they might punish lying worse here."

"True," the Doctor replied with a wide smile. "It might."

The older Doctor and her Rose exchanged a look. That was all the warning that they got before the blonde Doctor sighed dramatically. "I want a…." she struggled for a moment before spitting the word. "Divorce!"

The floor shifted. Both of their older counterparts laughed gleefully while Rose squeaked and grabbed the Doctor's arm. There were no handholds and nothing they could do as the floor's angle shifted and turned it into a slide. Rose lost her footing, and they toppled down the slide and into the darkness below.