Unto the Universe

Chapter Forty-Nine: Torn in Twain: Shocking the Sixth

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: Wow, I did not know how my lovely readers would react to Alistair telling the Doctor about him and Rose, but apparently you were all ready for that chaos. I stand by the idea that if anyone in the universe has the right to torment the Doctor like that; it is the Bridger.

….

The Doctor had gone after Rose Tyler before fully processing what he was doing. She was heading for the staircase, same as him, so it wasn't exactly like he was following her. The Doctor found his eyes moving to the young woman beside him. He was confident that his old friend hadn't been lying. It rather made sense of some of the reactions he'd seen from the UNIT staff around him and Rose. They treated her very differently from Peri. Oh, they were respectful enough towards his current companion. He'd assumed that it was because Rose had worked for them as Malcolm had mentioned, but their knowing looks had carried a strange hint of amusement to him. That made sense now if many of them were aware that he would…

A relationship with a human. Odd. Not the sort of thing he'd expected. Well, given how much time he spent around them, a physical relationship was perhaps not out of the question, but marriage with children. That was something rather different. The Doctor glanced in her direction again and wondered if she'd know his name. His original name, the one he shared with the being he was the genetic reoccurrence of. Or did she know the Theta Sigma name, which had served as a shield and decoy before he found the name The Doctor?

All of his incarnations, himself included, knew to trust someone who gave him that name. It wasn't known to anyone off Gallifrey and only to a few on Gallifrey as it was. He'd always figured that was the name he was most likely to give a future partner. Unknown to most, an agreed-upon signal of trust that he'd understand anywhere in his timeline, but also much much safer.

"I'm sorry," Rose apologized. "I do my best to keep the timelines neat and tidy so you don't have to deal with this sort of thing." She shook her head, but a small smile appeared on her face as she came to a stop. It was just the two of them in the old corridor that felt too small under the circumstances. "Part of me can't believe he did that, while another part of me isn't surprised at all."

"He did confirm that I wouldn't remember this series of events first," the Doctor told her. He was struggling for words. That didn't happen to him often. What did one say to their future wife? If anyone else but Alistair had told him he'd get married and have more children, he wouldn't have believed them. He would have demanded proof. And yet, it was Alistair who wasn't a fool so the Doctor wasn't sure what to believe. There were too many emotions and thoughts churning inside of him. The Doctor didn't know where to start. "I suppose I can't be too angry with him."

"No, but still, it's made what I know is an uncomfortable situation for you worse," Rose replied. "I know that crossing your own timeline and meeting your other selves is… hard for you. Regeneration and confronting it isn't easy for Time Lords. You especially. So, I am sorry."

The Doctor was surprised at Rose's understanding. It was difficult for many reasons. For one, it grated on a Time Lord's senses to cross their own timeline. More than that, in his case, was that persistent self-loathing that haunted him and suddenly had a convenient target in another form of himself. And from the look on Rose's face as she said 'you especially' made him worry she knew a bit about that. He fought the urge to squirm. His hearts were beating a little too quickly and he could feel heat creeping up his face.

"Please don't apologize for Alistair," the Doctor said. "You didn't do anything wrong. He did and, well, I suppose given some of the things I've put him through, I can't even really blame him."

Rose smiled in a way that lit up her amber eyes. They were nearly golden with her amusement in the lights of the corridor. It was an odd thing for him to notice, but the Doctor did. He cleared his throat and glanced around them, wondering where Peri was. She'd slipped off somewhere once he'd gotten the materials he'd wanted from his TARDIS. Given how his regeneration went, she was probably curious about his latest form and might have sought him out. At least, his companion right now was one who was familiar with regeneration. Explaining it was always a little difficult.

"Well, my Doctor, the one I'm here with," Rose amended. "We've been a couple for a while, but he doesn't know about the marriage or the children." She was blushing a little, and the Doctor found himself smiling in response. "Not everyone at UNIT knows, but in the past when he heard people talking about it, the Doctor just dismissed it as gossip. Hopefully, he will today if anyone says anything."

"Is there a lot of gossip surrounding you?"

Rose laughed and nodded. "Oh, yes. I'm afraid that I came to UNIT's attention fairly young. They've had time to wonder if I was your child or grandchild, another kind of alien, your lover, your ex-girlfriend, and a lot of other things. I recommend ignoring it. They're just trying to distract themselves from the stress of the situation."

"How long have you been," the Doctor hesitated, unsure of his choice of words. "Together?"

"For a little over a year if my journal is still keeping time right. But we've known each other for years." She turned and smiled at him. "This you and I met once before in my timeline. I was at the Tower of London, putting flowers on Jane Grey's memorial marker. Peri mentioned that you've already been there."

"Oh." The Doctor exhaled. "Yes, I remember that. It wasn't that long ago to us. Peri wanted to see some sights on Earth. I- well… you stood out." The Doctor realized what he had said and cleared his throat. His face was definitely red now. "You have very bright timelines."

"So, I've been told." Rose's smile brightened and the timelines dancing around her flared at her pleasure. "I try not to stand out too much when we meet, but it seems I can't help it. Your current self and I have talked a bit about our other meetings. It's flattering to know that you remember so many of them." She frowned a little. "But you don't seem to remember them properly outside of meeting me. I wonder if I'm doing that."

"Doing it?" the Doctor asked with a slight frown. "What do you mean?"

"Uh… I probably shouldn't discuss it in detail," Rose replied. Her eyes were now bright with cleverness and the Doctor was certain that she'd realized something. "But I have some temporal defences around me, a gordian knot, that protects my timelines. I suppose that it might be helping hide me from you when we meet out of order." She shook her head, cutting off his questions. "Even if you make yourself forget, it's probably best that you don't get distracted with too much future information."

The Doctor both appreciated her reasonable concerns and disliked her ending on such a tantalizing note. Her timelines were extraordinary, and he wasn't sure what to make of them. Time spun around her as if she was its sun, the star whose gravity pulled it in and the raw force of time was merely debris waiting to form planets. Rose clearly knew much more than she was letting on and yet, there was a grace in her words and manner that was impressive. She was a little worried about whatever it was, but calm at the same time. An interesting puzzle.

"But it is true?" the Doctor pressed. He disliked the admiration he was feeling and straightened himself up. Control. He was a Time Lord and couldn't should just accept this at face value. "Alistair isn't wrong?" He narrowed his eyes, pushing himself to be cautious and not immediately trip over himself. "This isn't some sort of trap?" Raising an eyebrow with his last word, the Doctor expected Rose to huff and be angry.

Instead, she smiled and took a step closer to him. The Doctor nearly panicked as the scent of vanilla, sunshine, and lilacs filled his nostrils. Too close. She was too close. Then Rose leaned up and whispered his name into his ear. His original name. Not exactly his true name, he didn't like to think of it like that, but the original name. The other name. She took his free hand that wasn't holding the box of scraps and squeezed it gently. He shifted his hand to entwine their fingers.

"Ah," he whispered as Rose shifted back. He was grateful to her for moving away. It gave him space to inhale a much-needed breath. But his grip on her hand tightened. He didn't want her going too far. "You know that name."

"I do," Rose said. "As I said, our timelines are complicated. To me, you asked me to marry you a few years ago. But no, it isn't a trick, and yes, I know the significance of that name."

She locked her amber eyes on his, and the Doctor had no idea what to do. Both his hearts fluttered at the possibility of someone knowing the truth and staying with him anyway even as his mind rejected the very possibility. Except that all the evidence said it was possible. Had he hit his head or been drugged? Maybe this was some sort of hallucination.

"I see." That was all he managed to get out. Stepping a little closer to her, the Doctor tried again. "Uh, then I suppose- uh, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Doctor."

"We really named a child after Alistair?" he asked in a soft voice. A child. That shouldn't be possible with a human, but he supposed that a lot might change between where he was now and then.

"We do." Rose's eyes were dancing with amusement and affection. He shifted a little closer to her, inhaling her scent once again. It was lovely and bright, like her smile. "He actually pretends to be you on occasion rather than deal with having to convince UNIT to let him help. That happened the first time I met him. And we have at least two daughters, Astra and Athena." Rose squeezed his hand. "I love you, Doctor. It won't be perfect, but we'll be happy. I promise."

The Doctor was speechless. All he could do was stare. What did one say to that? Rose's gaze was so kind and knowing. It almost hurt. No, it did hurt. His chest ached. He rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand before he realized what he was doing. Rose chuckled; the sound was warm in the cool corridor. She came closer and leaned forward to brush a kiss on his cheek. It felt nice.

Warm. A wave of affection that wasn't his washed through his brain, seeping through the cracks in his shields. Normally he kept his mental shields strong and absolute, but this was… he had no defence to pure and honest adoration. Oh, how did his future self manage to get anything done? His double bypass had kicked in as he stopped breathing.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked softly. "You're staring."

"Oh, I apologize." He was surprised that how quickly he apologized, it wasn't the sort of thing he was good at in this life. "Woolgathering."

Rose sighed softly and shook her head, though she didn't seem angry. "This is why I'm annoyed by Alistair. I know from experience how much a glimpse of the future can distract you."

"Ah, yes, you said that some of this is future information to the Doctor you're traveling with."

"Yeah," Rose sighed. "You and I have a temporally complicated relationship. I'm as honest as I can be, but sometimes I just have to say that it's a timeline issue. It's been that way for years."

The Doctor didn't know how to take those words. "There wasn't…. there wasn't any manipulation involved was there?" He asked urgently. "You didn't feel that you had to in order to maintain timelines-"

"No!" Rose assured him, looking horrified at the very idea. She took a deep breath. "No, please don't think of that yourself in the future. You aren't perfect, but you've got your morals. It was a bit messy at places, but… well I made choices and so did you. Sometimes they were emotionally compromised choices, but they were choices." Rose shook her head and turned back to the monitor, allowing the Doctor to study her profile. "You weren't the one who put things on this course anyway, that was the Guardians." The Doctor sucked in a breath at those words. He didn't dare ask what she meant. "I know a lot about my future. More than is normal or safe. And I had chances to change the timeline and walk away, but… well you're much more interesting than anyone else who ever asked me out. And knowing that you'd love me and I'd love you and we'd be happy, made it easier to choose to stay on this path and grow into that love." Rose turned enough to look at him again and gave him a soft smile. "And I do love you, Doctor. You make me very happy. Our life makes me happy."

That was… honestly he wasn't sure what that was. The complicated nature of the timelines was concerning for many reasons, but it also meant that Rose Tyler was aware of how messy a life she was getting into. Humans romanticized such things without really considering the ramifications, but this had been going on for years. He couldn't dismiss it as ignorance on her side of things and she'd made it clear that he hadn't been manipulating things. As difficult as it was to believe her, the Doctor didn't see an alternative that wasn't grossly insulting to her.

"That can't be much fun though, knowing in advance."

Rose laughed. He did find that he liked the sound of his laugh. It might be the affection of his older self impacting this him or it could be that he liked her laugh. He couldn't be sure. That was the problem with out of order meetings.

"I know you travel in the TARDIS," Rose said. "But I like to think of it as taking a long trip. You have a destination picked out, but that doesn't mean you won't have fun or see wonderful things on the way there. I know a lot of the important points ahead of us, but I don't know about all the adventures we'll have along the way."

Rose tugged on his hand to get him walking again as she headed for the stairs. He shook himself and matched her pace, keeping a tight hold of her hand. The cold of the rip rolled down his spine and helped bring him back to the pressing business they were facing. There was a rip in space and time. Apparently, it was something that was happening frequently. He needed to focus on that and help his future self figure out the source. His eyes moved back to Rose on their own accord, and he nearly tripped on the stairs.

The Doctor was relieved that his future self hadn't returned yet. He needed… a few more moments to gather his wits. Now that he understood it, the Doctor immediately noticed the sly glances that he and Rose were receiving. The workers on the wall were making excellent progress. It was astonishing how much humans could create in only a few hours. But several had paused to look at him and Rose. Then again, he was still holding her hand, so perhaps their interest had some merit.

"Ah, welcome back," Doctor Taylor greeted. The man had gained a few more wires around his neck and there was another cup of tea on his makeshift desk. "No changes that the sensors have detected. Did you find what you needed?"

What he needed? "Oh yes," the Doctor said. He was suddenly aware of the weight of the box in his free hand once again. "I can build what we need to close it. Might be able to boost your sensors a bit as well. Could be useful since that- my other self is so determined to pinpoint the source of these anomalies."

Rose smiled. She'd likely caught his aborted insult and was pleased by it. There was a warm feeling in his chest and the Doctor was inclined to linger there holding her hand. But then Rose gently pulled her hand away and stepped back.

"Well, I'll let you get to work on that," Rose said. "I appreciate your help and patience on this." She turned and took in the readings on the computers as her smile dimmed. "We're at a loss for what is causing these things and this is most ahead of one we've managed to get."

"Well… I suppose that it is rational to try and take advantage of an opportunity when you see it. As long as we don't allow Earth to be harmed."

"Agreed." Rose smiled again. Good, he preferred her smiling. "I'm fond of Earth in general as my home planet, but this is my home time. I know far too many people here and now to want to risk them." She turned to Malcolm. "Talking of my friends, any idea if Mickey and the girls are expected on-site?"

"I'm not sure where Smith is," Malcolm admitted. "But I believe Sharon and Shareen will be arriving with the shift change in an hour or two." He smiled warmly at Rose. "Pity you see them most often in crisis."

"Oh, we visit Earth more than you lot know," Rose teased. "The Doctor usually just works on repairs with Jack while I'm off with my mates and avoids letting UNIT brass know he's on the planet. Sharon, Shareen, and Mickey know not to tell in exchange for being able to call me."

The Doctor really wasn't sure what to make of that. On the one hand, he didn't love knowing that UNIT could reach him so easily. Back when he'd given them a communication device to reach him, he'd felt that they used it too often. On the other hand, this was his favourite planet and getting alerts when there was real trouble was helpful. But bringing companions back for visits wasn't his usual behaviour. Then again, Rose wasn't exactly a companion.

"Anyway, I'll let you get to it."

Then Rose Tyler moved away from him. More than that, she headed towards the rip and every protective instinct the Doctor ever had towards companions magnified. The room was large enough that it took him a few moments to join her at the wall once he'd regained his senses.

"It's not safe this close," the Doctor protested. He took Rose's arm and gently tried to guide her away. She gave him a tongue touched smile that affected him much more than he liked and shifted her arm away. "Rose."

"It's okay." Rose flicked her wrist and the Doctor's eyes widened as her golden bracelet shifted into particles and reformed in her hand as a sword. "I'm a Star Knight," she said in a very matter of a fact tone. "Have been since I was eighteen actually. Alistair and a bunch of other UNIT officials were kidnapped by a rogue Durmino general who was trying to start a war with Earth as part of a coup. Long story short, I was asked to come in and help and ended up touching an artefact they were transporting."

Rose shrugged as if it was unimportant, but there was an impish gleam in her eyes and her tongue touched smile was far too pleased. She knew that it was impressive and that he really wanted to know the rest of the story. Behind him, Doctor Taylor was giggling to himself. It seemed that UNIT really was at least in part, used to the antics of Rose Tyler. He adored it.

"Still… are you sure?"

"Yes," Rose said firmly. "I know that the rip is still small, but in the past, Neverweres have escaped. My sword is effective against them. And the Doctor has used the energy that it gives off to close the rips in the past."

"That does explain his confidence," the Doctor agreed. He nodded to himself. "Yes, that sword was created by a Guardian of the Universe." The Doctor wasn't sure what response he was expecting to that, but Rose's lips twitched and she seemed to be holding back a laugh. Curious, but not the point. "Well, I can put together a temporal stabilizer even faster now, knowing that's an option. He might have told me about that earlier." He couldn't help but grumble, and Rose's expression softened.

"In his defence, he's probably used to the sword being an option by now. It's gotten us out of a lot of scrapes."

"I hope that you and Leela never meet," the Doctor sighed. Though with her being his future wife, blimey that was a strange thought, it was unlikely that they'd never meet. "She's fond of knives and what is best described as a thorn whip."

"Sounds like we'd find trouble."

"Of that, I have no doubt."

He was loathe to move away from her. There was something disarming about Rose Tyler and even the knowledge that as a Star Knight she was capable of taking care of herself, he still hesitated to just leave her beside a rip in time. She was still a human.

"Oi!" the gruff voice of his future self called. "There's work to do! Thought you were working on the temporal stabilizer."

Rose smiled as she watched his face. The Doctor sighed and gave her one more look. "You're sure you're alright? I don't…"

"I'll be fine. You two figure this out. I have faith in you."

The Doctor allowed himself a small grumble which only seemed to amuse Rose. Nonetheless, he turned around and went to join his future self, well aware of the sharp way the other man was watching him. That almost made the Doctor smile. Good, let his future self wonder what he knew. At the moment, he even had the pleasure of knowing more than him.