The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 13
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, well then, I'd be a very rich young woman, wouldn't I?
A/N: I HIT 50 REVIEWS! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Here's a long chapter for you all to celebrate and I know I updated sooner than usual, I already had this chapter done and dusted and I was just really busy yesterday (I had to attend to 90 people in my house for like 5 hours), so I just wanted to get this over with. Anyway, this is Rhea's first meeting with the Ninth Doctor, I wonder how's she going to react? And her first time meeting Rose as well, how are Rose and Rhea going to react? Will Rhea accept the Ninth Doctor, even though he's vastly different to the two Doctors that Rhea has already met?
Notes on Reviews:
grapejuice101: I'm so very glad you liked it!
tooclosefortety: I'm glad you liked the kiss and I hope you like this chapter too!
Romanadvoratrelu: Well, I hope you like this chapter. And I will be doing Death of the Doctor in The Sarah Jane Adventures as well (as well as The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, just those two episodes 'cause they've got the Doctor in them), so we'll get to see whether Jo Grant recognises Rhea as well.
IKhandoZatman: I'm glad you liked the episode and it is Nine, don't worry, I couldn't put him off for too long, he's been shouting at me for so long.
beulah2013: No, sorry, not 'Rose', I have a plan for 'Rose', it won't be starting at the beginning of the episode, instead as soon as the War Doctor regenerates into the Ninth Doctor. I'm glad you have so much faith in me. I hope this chapter lives up.
Queenylime2: I thought so too, but that may just be writer's pride, so I'm glad someone else thinks that as well. Yeah, it was his last chance, of course, Rhea was totally confused by it, because it was the first time she's kissed him. Sorry, they won't really fight in this episode, the next one I do, they will. They'll definitely have some stubborn moments in Father's Day.
curlyhairedfriendsr0x: I'm so glad you think this is amazing. And I am always open to feedback, constructive criticism is like crack for me, it makes me do better and I do hope you review more, I'm always looking at reviews!
Italics – Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts
Platform – the entire spaceship
platform – a platform in a room on the spaceship
Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo, that's about all of it, really…
The End of the World: Sunburn & Spiders
"I'll see you soon, Rhea." The Doctor simply replied.
She shut her eyes.
When she managed to open them, she was stunned by how much darker the TARDIS was. Maybe it's night, but why wouldn't the TARDIS light up when she realised I was in here? She looked around and saw a man in a leather jacket and a maroon jumper standing at the console. She looked around and realised that she was sitting in the exact same spot she had been when she collapsed, just a different TARDIS. She grabbed onto the console and hoisted herself up onto her feet, gritting her teeth at the ache in her legs. The man in the leather jacket seemed to notice the movement she made and his head shot up from where he was staring at the buttons on the console. He looked like the last photo she had seen the first time she had met her blue suit wearing Doctor, so this was the ninth Doctor. She groaned inwardly, realising that she was going to get very confused, very quickly.
He rushed over to her, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other holding her hand, and led her over to the captain's chair. I really shouldn't be letting him do this? She sat down on it, wearily, the whole jumping through time and space thing really taking it out of her. She raised her head and took a proper look at him this time. He was tall, not as tall as the next Doctor, but tall nonetheless, he had to be six feet minimum. She estimated all three of the Doctors she had met were around six feet, with the tenth Doctor being just a bit taller than the other two. The one in front of her had closely cropped black hair that really drew attention to his larger-than-usual ears. To be honest, she thought they kind of suited him, and they were kind of hot. His facial structure was amazing. She felt a pang of jealousy. Why is it that men always get the good facial features? High, defined cheekbones and a rugged jaw bone and his eyes. Holy crap. His eyes were like ice blue, both gorgeous and terrifying at the same time. His nose was slightly large, a Roman nose, but again, like the ears, she felt it suited his face, and in a good way. He was wide bodied, not like the skinny frames his future selves had, his shoulders were broad and his arms were thick and muscled.
Hello, handsome. She shook her head free of those dangerous thoughts, furious at herself for practically salivating. You can't get hooked that easily, Rhea, control yourself before you make a stupid mistake that could ruin everything.
"Doctor," She said, slowly, still a little unsure. "I, well, this is the first time I'm meeting you. This you, I mean." She decided to go with a blunt and take no prisoners attitude. She might as well get the whole thing out there and then they could decide what to do.
"This must be very early for you, then?" The Doctor asked, his strong English accent coming in. Rhea didn't know much about English accents but she thought it might be a Northern English accent. Either way, it was definitely sexy and it definitely suited this Doctor.
"This is the…" She counted their meetings on her fingers. "…fifth time I've jumped!" Rhea's face fell. "Wow, five agonising headaches, that's so not cool."
The Doctor gave a massive grin at that and she couldn't help grin back. "Oh, I've missed you!" He said, lifting her up in a massive and tight hug. She let out a shriek of surprise when he did this, mentally comparing the hugs she had received from the future Doctors with this one right now. This Doctor's hug was warm, and safe and comfortable and complete and she felt as if she could just melt into his embrace, but she didn't.
She pulled back, making sure that she put some distance between the two of them.
"So, what are we doing now?" Rhea asked, swallowing and leaning back against the console.
"Well, I just met Rose, and invited her to come along with me, but she said no." The Doctor said, not looking at her and just fiddling with the TARDIS.
"Who's Rose?" Rhea asked, leaning against the console and looking at him.
"Just a shop girl from London, she helped me…us…out a little while ago with an invasion problem." He looked very hesitant when he was telling her all of this.
"Spoilers, huh?" Rhea asked, looking understanding. She looked him over, appreciatively. "I got to say, I dig the leather jacket."
He looked at her, finally. "Yeah?"
"Definitely suits you." She said, waggling her eyebrows. "In a renegade cop, who doesn't play by anyone's rules, kind of way."
He smirked, confidence brimming in him after her compliment. "Good."
Rhea sighed. "It's good to know that you're ego doesn't change no matter which 'you' I run in to."
"Oi!"
Rhea shook her head. She stared at him for a second, remembering how her bow-tie Doctor had told her that this Doctor in front of her was the first Doctor after the Time War. She hesitated, wondering whether she should ask him and deciding to bite the bullet. "Are you…I mean…Is this right after the war for you?" Rhea asked, cautiously.
Pain passed through his eyes, as quickly as it came in it was gone, and his face hardened, but Rhea saw it. She slid a hand out and grasped his large one in her own. "I'm sorry. I really am" She said, sincerely. His hand tightened around hers and he tugged her closer, so that their hips were touching. They just stood there for a few minutes, not saying a word, and the Doctor revelled in her closeness.
"Why did Rose not want to come?" Rhea asked, suddenly. She couldn't imagine many people who wouldn't want to travel all of time and space. She had, and she was an emotionally stunted psychologist who had a madman knock on her door at three in the morning and even she had run off with him.
"She had to take care of her boyfriend and her mother." The Doctor said, grimacing.
Rhea smirked. "You don't get 'no' a lot of the time, do you?"
The Doctor shrugged. "No, not really." He said, sounding extremely smug about it.
Idiot. She thought fondly. "Did you tell her it travelled in time and space?" Rhea asked.
"Of course I-" He began to scoff, but then his eyes widened. "I forgot the 'time machine' part." He said, slowly, turning to her.
She rolled her eyes. "Of course." She pointed at one of the levers. "Come on, let's go back."
"As you wish, ma'am." The Doctor said, grinning and pushed down the lever, starting up the time rotor.
The TARDIS shook and the Doctor and Rhea would have been thrown around the room had they not grabbed onto the console at the last minute.
The Doctor ran around the console, pushing a few of the buttons and typing in the coordinates for a few minutes after he had left Rose and her idiot boyfriend in the alley.
The familiar wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS engines was heard as the ship landed on the opposite street corner that it had left, and the Doctor ran down the ramp to the door and threw one open, popping his head out.
"By the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?" The Doctor asked, a knowing smile plastered on his face and went back inside, making sure to leave the door ajar and joining Rhea at the console, who was absentmindedly pressing a few of the buttons of the TARDIS.
"Thanks." Rhea heard a girl say. She assumed this must be Rose
"Thanks for what?" She heard a deeper voice and guessed that this was Rose's boyfriend, the one that the Doctor didn't think much of.
Suddenly, a girl with dyed blonde hair in a pink jacket and jeans ran inside the TARDIS with a broad grin on her face. She ran up to the console, sliding herself between the two and smiled at them both in turn.
"Hello, you must be Rose." Rhea said, thrusting a hand out.
Rose looked confused and looked at the Doctor, who looked a bit sheepish.
"Oh yeah, probably should have mentioned that. Rhea," He started, pointing at her. "She doesn't actually meet everyone in the right order."
Rose frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means, I meet him at different points in his timeline. So, I'll meet him now and then I'll disappear and meet him again four years from now. Kind of like The Time Traveller's Wife, but he's the wife." She decided to ignore the connotations of that particular analogy and got back to the situation at hand. "So, this is the first time I've met you. I assume you've met me before."
"Yeah, you went back into the TARDIS with the Doctor." Rose said, quietly, still trying to come to terms with what Rhea had just explained.
"You can't tell her what happened today, Rose." The Doctor said, suddenly and sharply. "She hasn't done it yet."
Rose nodded at the Doctor and realised that Rhea still had her hand out for Rose to shake. She shook it weakly. "Rose Tyler." She introduced.
"Dr. Sunehri Adwani, but if you call me anything other than Rhea, I might have to kill you." Rhea said, with a smile on her face.
"See, the thing is, with her, you don't always know when she's joking." The Doctor confessed to Rose.
Rhea rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, I'm violent, but I'm not that violent."
The Doctor disagreed with Rhea by shaking his head at Rose, surreptitiously.
"Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. What's it going to be?" The Doctor said, tossing a red plastic ball in his hands.
Rose thought for a moment. "Forwards."
The Doctor flicked two switches and turned back to her. "How far?" He asked.
"One hundred years." Rose said, picking a random number.
The Doctor pulled a lever and pressed down on the same lever after a few turns. He reached over to turn a knob when Rhea beat him to it, turning it herself and smiling at him innocently when he mock-glared at her.
"Boys and their toys, huh?" Rhea whispered, conspiratorially, to Rose, who grinned at her. "He's so possessive of her that it's not funny."
"Her?" Rose looked quizzical.
"The TARDIS is a 'she'." Rhea said, gesturing all around her. She kissed her fingertips and touched them to one of the coral struts. "She's the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen." Rhea said, fondly, and grinned when she heard the TARDIS hum underneath her fingers.
The engines screeched and lurched, the Doctor staring at the rotor with a knowing smile on his face, and then stopped after a few seconds.
"There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century." He said, pointing to the doors.
"You're kidding." Rose said, smiling.
"That's a bit boring though, do you want to go further?" The Doctor asked.
"Fine by me!" Rose said.
The Doctor started up the engines again, turning the same knob and pumping one of the levers. When the engines stopped, he looked at both Rhea and Rose.
"Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire." He said, smugly, his hand shoved into the pocket of his leather jacket.
Rhea snorted. "You think you're so impressive, don't you?" Rhea asked, teasingly, sticking her tongue out of her teeth, smiling impishly.
The Doctor looked mock-offended. "I am so impressive."
Rhea smirked. "You wish, honey."
"Right, then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go." He revved up the engine, pumping a lever furiously seven times exactly. "Hold on!"
Rose hold onto the console and Rhea gripped onto the coral strut with everything she had as the TARDIS hurtled through the Time Vortex. Rhea leaned over and read the scanner, seeing that they were nearing the coordinates that the Doctor had set. She reached over and pulled one of the levers, while the Doctor twisted a knob and tapped a bell. The TARDIS came to a halt with a pinging noise.
"Where are we?" Rose asked.
The Doctor didn't say anything, just simply gestured towards the doors. Rose's smile turned excited.
"What's out there?" Rose asked, slowly.
The Doctor gestured again and Rose ran to the doors and stepped outside.
"You're having so much fun with this, aren't you?" Rhea asked, knowingly.
The Doctor walked over to her and held his arm out. "Well?"
Rhea threw her head back and laughed, hooking her arm through his, lightly resting her head on his leather covered arm. "Come on, biker boy, show me what's so impressive." Rhea purred.
He led her out into simple but elegant tiled room. The Doctor turned away from her towards a panel near the doors, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. She joined the Doctor at the wall and analysed his sonic screwdriver. It was slightly smaller than his future self's, her suit-wearing Doctor, but it had the same bright blue light.
"It's smaller." She mused out loud and then tracked back when she realised what context that could be taken in. "That didn't come out right." She hastily tried to cover up.
He turned to his left and grinned at her. "I think that came out just right." He murmured, staring at her, an unreadable look passing his face before his face settled on an intense promise. God, it's like this man's famous for those looks. He manages to give me one of them every time we meet, different face or not.
She bit her lip hard when she saw that look. Her mind was drawn to the last time she had seen that look on a blue suited man who had rushed from a teleport pad and kissed her until she was both literally and figuratively weak at the knees.
She shook her mind of those thoughts and focused on what he was doing to the panel of the wall with his sonic screwdriver. She heard the sound of a door or a window opening and turned around to see the shutters of an enormous window opening. Rhea went down the stairs and joined Rose, who was in front of the window already, and both of them looked down in awe as the Earth was shown to them.
"You lot." The Doctor began, crossing his arms. "You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. Maybe you survive." The Doctor paused and Rhea didn't have enough words in her mind to retort to his human-bashing. "This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day... hold on..." He broke off and looked down at his watch and then back at the window and Rhea watched with amazement and just a bit of terror as there was a explosion and a golden glow covered the Earth. "This is the day the sun expands." He turned to Rose. "Welcome to the end of the World."
"It's the last day on Earth in my dreams…" Rhea sang. They both looked at her. "Too soon?"
"Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite." A computerised voice came over the intercom of the space station.
Rhea, Rose and the Doctor were walking down a corridor.
"So, when it says 'guests', does that mean people?" Rose asked them.
Rhea shrugged. "Depends what you mean people?"
Rose frowned. "I mean people. What do you mean?"
"Aliens." The Doctor said.
"What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Rose asked as they came to a door, which the Doctor opened with his sonic screwdriver.
"It's not really a spaceship. More like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn." The Doctor explained.
"What for?" Rose asked, confused.
"Fun." The Doctor said, bluntly.
Rhea's face grew dark.
They entered a large observation gallery, which Rhea assumed was the Manchester Gallery that the intercom voice had spoken about.
"Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." The Doctor continued.
"Figures." Rhea snorted. Why is it that no one changed no matter how many years into the future? Even five billion years.
"But, hold on, they did this once on 'Newsround Extra' - the sun expanding - that takes hundreds of years." Rose said.
"Millions." Rhea corrected.
"But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" The Doctor pointed out of the observation at the tiny glints of light orbiting the Earth. "Gravity satellite. That's holding back the sun."
Rose peered out of the window at the Earth. "The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things." She remarked.
"They did." The Doctor agreed. "And the trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over!"
Rhea let out a low growl. "Since when did the Earth become a display in a wilderness park?"
"How long has it got?" Rose asked the Doctor.
The Doctor looked at his watch. "About half an hour. And the planet gets roasted."
"Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?" Rose asked, smiling a little.
Rhea shook her head before even hearing the Doctor's answer. She knew that wasn't what he was going to do.
The Doctor leaned towards Rose. "I'm not saving it. Time's up."
Rose's eyes widened. "But what about the people?"
"It's empty! They're all gone. All left." The Doctor said, shrugging.
Rose looked back to the window, realisation spreading across her face. "Just me then." She murmured.
"Hey!" Rhea interjected loudly. "What about me? I'm human too, you know." She was in the same situation as Rose.
Rose frowned. "Aren't you an alien, like him?" She asked, looking between the two of them.
"No way." Rhea shook her head. "I'm as human as they come, Blondie."
"Blondie?" Rose asked, insulted.
"Well, you are a blonde." Rhea said, slowly.
The Doctor stuck his head between the two females. "Don't be offended, Rose. She gives everyone she likes a nickname."
"It's my way of showing that I care." Rhea said, dramatically. "So, get used to it, Blondie."
"Who the hell are you?" A blue man shouted, running up to them.
"Oh! That's nice, thanks." The Doctor said as a greeting, completely unperturbed.
"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now!" The man said, helplessly.
"That's me, I'm a guest, look! I've got an invitation!" The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and showed it to the steward. "Look, there you see? It's fine, see? The Doctor and Sunehri Adwani plus one. I'm the Doctor," He pointed at Rhea, "She's Sunehri Adwani," He pointed at Rose. "She's Rose Tyler, she's our plus one. Is that all right?" The Doctor asked, his hands joined behind his back, rocking on the heels of his feet.
"Well…obviously." The Steward said, stiffly. The Doctor and Rhea sported matching grins. "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on-board, we'd better start. Enjoy."
The Doctor masked his expression of glee as a serious nod. After the steward walked off, the Doctor and Rhea looked at each other and burst out grinning. The Doctor showed Rhea the black wallet with the piece of paper inside of it, the one he had flashed at the steward. It was completely blank.
"The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time." The Doctor explained.
"He's blue." Rose managed to express.
"Yeah." Rhea said, nodding and smiling.
"Okay…" Rhea said, swallowing.
The steward was now speaking through a microphone at the other end of the suite. "We have in attendance, the Doctor, Sunehri Adwani and Rose Tyler. Thank you! All staff to their positions." He clapped his hands and a lot of little blue people in black clothing started scurrying around, presumably the staff.
"Oh my god, they look like blue oompa-loompas!" Rhea hissed to the Doctor, who had the urge to laugh madly after hearing her comment.
"Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along! And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest, representing the forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa."
A woman in red and yellow dress who had skin in the colour of bark and whose hair stuck out like a broken trunk walked over with her two companions, both dressed in black.
"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank-you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon."
The Doctor smiled as the Moxx of Balhoon rode in on some sort of platform while Rose just looked bewildered.
"And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme."
The Doctor just simply laughed at the expression on Rose's face. Rhea elbowed him in the stomach and looked at Rose, meaningfully. "You okay, Rose?" Rhea asked, knowing that this could be a bit overwhelming.
Rose gave her a tight smile. "Yeah."
"The inventors of hyposlip travel systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you!"
"Cal 'Spark Plug'."
"Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo."
"The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light."
More and more aliens entered and Rhea felt a bit overwhelmed as well by the end of it. Jabe and her companions approached the three of them. Her companions held trays of pots with little shoots in them.
"The Gift of Peace." Jabe said, taking a cutting and handing it to the Doctor. "I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather."
"Thank you!" The Doctor said, handing the plant over to Rose. "Yes, gifts…erm…" He cleared his throat and started feeling his jacket for something. When he found nothing, he turned to Rhea, helplessly. Rhea reached into the pockets of her jacket and pulled out a packet of Jolly Ranchers, handing it over to him and rolling her eyes. He pulled out a few and gave them to Jabe. "I give you in return, delicacies from Earth."
Rhea resisted the urge to laugh. Delicacies, really?
Jabe peeled the candy from the wrapper and popped it into her mouth, tasting it thoughtfully. After a few minutes of tasting the candy, she smiled wide and thanked them gratefully. She gave the leftover candy to her companions and walked away.
"Sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe." The steward introduced.
A massive head in a glass case was wheeled through the doors. The Moxx of Balhoon approached the Doctor, Rhea and Rose.
"The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor said, grinning.
"My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily saliva."
He spat accurately into Rose's left eye. She looked equal parts disgusted and shocked and rubbed the spit out of her eye. Rhea pursed her lips in order to stop herself from laughing out loud, but it looked like the Doctor had no qualms about that.
"Thank you very much." The Doctor said, chuckling.
The Adherents of the Repeated Meme approached them.
"Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you delicacies from Earth." The Doctor said, giving them a couple of Jolly Ranchers.
"You're buying me more, got that, biker boy?" Rhea muttered to the Doctor.
"A gift of peace in all good faith." The one at the front intoned. Rhea frowned. She felt as if there was something wrong with these so-called Adherents of the Repeated Meme.
The Meme held out a large silver egg, which the Doctor took, threw up into the air, caught, and handed to Rose.
"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth The Last Human."
Both Rhea and Rose paled as the sliding doors opened to show what looked like a vertical trampoline made of human skin, with eyes and a lipstick smeared mouth, wheel through. The veins in the skin could still be seen, which bulged at odd intervals, swelling with blood. At least, Rhea thought it was blood.
"The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen." The steward finished.
"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am."
The Doctor laughed silently but heartily, looking at Rhea and Rose for their reaction. Rose was just staring at Cassandra with obvious shock.
"Thin and dainty! I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me, moisturize me." Cassandra preened and one of the two men in white body suits, who had wheeled her in, held up a canister, which he sprayed onto Cassandra.
"Truly, I am The Last Human."
Rose and Rhea crept closer in order to get a better look.
"My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil." Cassandra continued as Rhea walked around her to the other side, to get a better view of her from all angles. She was completely flat. Practically two-dimensional. She moved back to the Doctor's side as Rose remained closer to Cassandra, still observing her with alarm.
"I have come to honour them and..." Cassandra sniffled, as if she were about to start crying. "...say goodbye. Oh, no tears." One of the white suits wiped her eyes. "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg." One of the staff came in and displayed the egg to the room on a pedestal. "Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils." Rhea opened her mouth to deny everything the trampoline had just said but the Doctor pinched her arm, making her glare at him. He shook his head, signalling for her not to make a scene. She rolled her eyes. "Or was that my third husband?" Rhea rolled her eyes again when the Doctor laughed.
"That wasn't even funny!" Rhea said, incredulously, to him.
"Who knows! Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" Cassandra laughed obnoxiously and mumbled to herself for a few seconds. Behind her, a large jukebox was wheeled into the room.
"And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod." Rhea hung her head with a groan. "It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers."
Rose just looked amazed at the extent of the inaccuracies, not saying a word.
"Play on!" Cassandra ordered.
One of the staff pressed a button and a record fell into place. The jukebox started playing Soft Cell's Tainted Love.
"Oh, please, since when is 'Tainted Love' a classic?" Rhea scoffed and then halted the Doctor from bopping appreciatively to the music. "Please don't dance." Rhea said, weakly.
The Doctor gave her a mock-growl and pulled her closed to him.
"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in 30 minutes." The steward informed all of them.
Rose had a lost, overwhelmed expression plastered across her face and Rhea could tell this from all the way across the suite. Everywhere Rose looked, there were aliens, and nt just like the Doctor, real, proper aliens, and no other humans other than Rhea, and Rose still wasn't sure what the woman was. She ran out of the gallery. Concerned, the Doctor and Rhea started to follow her, but they were stopped by Jabe.
"Doctor? Miss Sunehri?" Jabe started, drawing their attention. She snapped a photo of them when they paused. "Thank you."
The Doctor and Rhea proceeded on.
Rose, in another part of the ship, looked out of the window at the raging, burning sun. She jumped when another one of the staff came into the room, a woman.
"Sorry, am I allowed to be in here?" Rose asked, sheepishly.
The employee looked around uneasily, as if to check if anyone else was there. "You have to give us permission to talk." She looked at Rose expectantly. Rose looked unsure of what exactly to say.
"Uh... you... have permission...?" Rose tried.
"Thank you!" The employee said, smiling. "And, no. You're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere."
"'Kay." Rose said, smiling in return.
The employee went to a panel in the wall and entered a code, while Rose watched her.
"What's your name?" Rose asked her.
"Raffalo." She answered.
"Raffalo?" Rose said.
"Yes, Miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance." Raffalo knelt before an air vent. "There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Bo suite. There must be something blocking the system - he's not getting any hot water."
"So, you're a plumber?" Rose asked, hesitantly, unsure of whether she was going to offend the woman.
Raffalo smiled at her and nodded. "That's right, miss."
"They still have plumbers?" Rose asked, frowning. Five billion years into her future and they still needed plumbers.
"I hope so! Else I'm out of a job!" Raffalo joked and Rose laughed.
"Where are you from?" Rose asked, leaning against the wall.
"Crespallion."
"That's a planet, is it?" Rose asked.
"No," Raffalo shook her head. "Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex 56. And where are you from, Miss?" Raffalo then paused, as if she had remembered herself. "If you don't mind me asking."
"No! Not at all. Erm... I dunno, a long way away... I just sort of, hitched a lift with this couple." Reason seemed to dawn on Rose's face, seeming to realise the risk she had taken by travelling with the Doctor and Rhea. "I didn't even think about it... I don't even know who they are... they're complete strangers..." Rose trailed off.
Rafallo looked slightly worried at the turn Rose was taking. However, Rose snapped herself out of it.
"Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it!" Rose said, and began to walk away.
"Thank you, Miss. And…" Rose turned around to face Raffalo again. "Thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate."
Rose smiled. "'Kay. See you later."
Rafallo nodded and smiled.
Rose sat on the steps, throwing the metal egg that the Adherrents of the Repeated Meme had given as a gift up in the air and catching it
The TARDIS was being dragged away by some of the staff in a corridor on the Platform.
"Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches." The Doctor warned the staff.
One of them walked up to the Doctor, squeaked at him, handing him a card and walking away from him. The Doctor and Rhea looked down at the card, reading the words. It read 'Have A Nice Day' in some sort of alien font.
"Oh, that's actually sort of pretty." Rhea mused, eyeing the words on the card.
But the Doctor simply stared at the retreating staff's back as if he or she was completely insane, before walking off down the opposite end of the corridor.
Rose was sitting on the steps in the viewing gallery, throwing the egg that the Adherents of the Repeated Meme had given as a gift, and catching it again, when she heard an announcement over the intercom.
"Earth Death in 25 minutes. Earth Death in 25 minutes."
"Oh, thanks." Rose said, sarcastically.
She put the egg down and turned her attention to the cutting of Jabe's grandfather. She picked up the pot. "Hello! My name's Rose. That's a sort of plant. We might be related..." She suddenly realised what she was doing and hurriedly put the plant down. "I'm talking to a twig." She said, in absolute disgust. Behind her, a spider broke out of the metal ball she had just put down.
The spider started to scan her hand, but Rose was completely oblivious. It jumped and ran to the air vent when the Doctor's voice floated through the door.
"Rose? Are you in there?" The Doctor asked.
The spider scrambled through the vent just in time, before the Doctor and Rhea came through the door.
"Aye aye!" The Doctor said as he joined Rose on the opposite side of the stairs. Rhea sat on the platform Indian style and scooted over to the edge, dropping her legs down and swinging them. "What do you think, then?"
"Great!" Rose said, slipping fake enthusiasm into her voice, which Rhea noticed with a frown. "Yeah... fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper..."
The Doctor laughed and Rhea remembered the first time she had seen the Doctor use the psychic paper on the Titanic, and how that had been the straw that broke the camel's back for her, especially after seeing Bannakaffalatta.
"They're just, so alien." Rose remarked. The Doctor looked at her, questioningly. "The aliens. Are so alien. You look at 'em... and they're alien." She said, lamely, unable to express exactly what she was feeling.
"Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South." The Doctor joked.
Rose looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time in her life. "Where are you from?"
Rhea winced at the question and turned her attention to the Doctor, whose face was impossibly blank. She took the hand that was closest to her and brought it back to her thighs, holding it tightly in her own. She rested her head lightly on his bicep. "All over the place." The Doctor replied, turning away from Rose and looking out of the viewing window at the Earth.
"They all speak English." Rose said, the thought just coming to her.
The Doctor turned back to Rose, smiling and leaning back, resting his elbow on the floor. "No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field, gets inside your brain, translates."
"It's inside my brain?" Rose clarified, shock and anger at the whole situation rising up in her.
"Well, in a good way."
Rose's voice turned cold and angrier. "Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?" Rose demanded.
The Doctor looked thrown at the question. "I didn't think about it like that."
"No! You were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South!" Rose said, angrily. "Who are you then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"
The Doctor sat up and looked away from her.
"I'm just the Doctor." The Doctor asserted.
"From what planet?" Rose asked, angrily.
"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!" The Doctor scoffed.
"Where are you from?!" Rose shouted.
"What does it matter?" The Doctor asked, getting angry now.
"Tell me who you are!" Rose yelled.
"This is who I am, right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!" The Doctor barked, memories of what he was and what he had lost ripping through his mind.
"Yeah, and I'm here too because you brought me here, so just tell me!" Rose screamed.
"Okay, time out, you two." Rhea cut in, hoping to stop a bloodbath. She turned to Rose, just a bit incensed herself, an intense protectiveness over the Doctor rising in her. "Okay, first of all, no one held a gun to your head and forced you to come with us, you came of your own free will. If that's a bad decision in your eyes, that's your own problem, don't blame us." Rhea continued, despite the angry and offended look Rose was giving her. She rolled her eyes. "And second, seriously, you've known him for what, a day? What makes you think you have the right to know everything about him? Imagine it the other way, if we asked you every thought, every memory, every fact about your life, would you want to answer us? Do you trust us enough to tell us every deep, dark secret in your life?" Rose looked away from Rhea's hard gaze, unable to distance herself from the logic.
Rhea softened her tone. She knew she could come off as a bit of a bitch sometimes. She just hated hypocrisy and she felt incredibly protective over this leather clad man, who seemed so broken right now. "Look, I'm not trying to be mean. Everyone has their secrets and it's wrong for you to expect him to tell you all of his. It's not like he knows you and it's not fair. You shouldn't blame us for bringing you here. He only asked you to come, you made the conscientious decision to come with us." Rhea followed the Doctor, who had left the platform and walked down the steps to the window. She reached him and linked her arms through his, smiling when he looked at her thankfully. She entwined their fingers together and smiled reluctantly when he pressed a warm kiss to her forehead.
"Earth Death in 20 minutes. Earth Death in 20 minutes."
After a few minutes, Rose got up and followed the Doctor and Rhea down the steps.
"Alright... as my mate Shareen says... don't argue with the designated drivers..." Rose said, as a form of an apology.
Rhea still looked a bit annoyed at the girl, not thinking that was a proper apology in her opinion, but softened when she saw the Doctor smile at the girl's words, deciding to let it go this once. Rose pulled her mobile out of the pocket of her jacket and looked at it, her eyes narrowed.
"Can't exactly call for a taxi... there's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit!"
The Doctor pursed his lips and turned to face Rose. "Tell you what..." He took the phone from her. "With a little bit of jiggery pokery..." He took the back of the phone off.
"Is that a technical term, 'jiggery pokery'?" Rose teased him.
"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?" The Doctor said, playing along. Rhea just stared at them both, sceptically.
"Nah, failed hullabaloo."
"You both have no game, whatsoever." Rhea told them.
"Ooh." The Doctor made a sound, fitting in a new battery into Rose's phone and handing it back to her. "There you go."
Rose took it and looked at him uncertainly. Rhea realised what he had done to her phone and looked at her reassuringly. She nodded at Rose to dial and Rose dialled her mother's number, who answered after a few rings. "Mum?"
Rhea leaned up to whisper in the Doctor's ear. "I bet you're so proud of yourself."
The Doctor just looked down at her with a smug smile that said everything.
The Doctor turned to Rhea, neither of them wanting to eavesdrop on Rose's phone call.
"I have plenty of game." The Doctor growled.
Rhea snorted. "Oh, yeah. You're going to have to prove it, biker boy." Rhea said, all flirty-like.
"Not in front of witnesses." The Doctor said, smirking.
Rhea smiled at him, waggling her eyebrows. "Baby, when you dish out what you put out, then we can talk about your game."
"No! I'm fine! Top of the world!" They heard Rose tell her mother and the two laughed.
Rhea looked at Rose, understanding the conflicting emotions that must have coursing through the girl. She remembered talking to her mother on her phone after the Sontaran drama, how happy and devastated she had felt. Her hand went to the phone in her blazer, unbeknownst to her. The Doctor seemed to know what she was thinking and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. Rhea was ashamed and furious to say that she drunk in his warmth.
Rose lowered the mobile, stunned.
The Doctor misinterpreted her look. "Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." He teased.
"That was five billion years ago." Rose murmured. "So... she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead."
Rhea flinched when she realised that was true for her own mother as well. The Doctor, as if he had read her mind, maybe he had, she still wasn't quite sure about the telepathy thing yet, she was still a bit angry about that, gripped her hand tightly, offering her some more comfort.
"Bundle of laughs, you are." The Doctor said, dryly.
Suddenly, the entire Platform shuddered.
"That's not supposed to happen..." The Doctor looked rather pleased and curious.
Rhea groaned. And, here we go again.
A/N: Well, here was Rhea's first meeting with the Ninth Doctor. Wasn't it fun? I liked the little bit at the beginning. Rhea's definitely attracted to this Doctor, not that she isn't to the others, but the first thing she notices about this one, is how sexy he is for her. But she won't act on her attraction, like she said, she's an "emotionally stunted psychologist". There was a little bit of flirting in this chapter, with the "impressive" bit and The Doctor's "game" and the Time Traveller's Wife reference. I also downplayed the relationship between Jabe and the Doctor in this chapter and in the next, I wonder how Rhea and the Doctor will react when she asks the Doctor whether Rhea is his wife?
I did want to bring something up with you guys. The fact that Rhea does sometime smile and stick her tongue out of her teeth. I know that in the Doctor Who fandom, a lot of people apply that particular smile to Rose and I know Rose has become kind of famous for it and I didn't want you guys to think that I just stole it from Rose. I have seen a lot of people smile like that, when their joking or teasing, even the actress that I base Rhea on, which is Deepika Padukone, by the way, if you didn't recognise her from the cover (what do you think about the cover, anyway?). I smile like that sometimes as well, and I used to do it even before I started watching Doctor Who.
Oh, and to explain a reference, the song that Rhea sings in this chapter is The Last Day on Earth by Kate Miller-Heidke.
And Rose. I hope you liked the way Rhea treated Rose in this chapter and how she tells Rose off for being so pushy. I never really liked that bit in the episode, I always felt like Rose was asking things she didn't really have the right to know, I mean she only knew the Doctor for like a day, and she already wanted his life story. I thought this would be a perfect time for Rhea to get protective over the Doctor. I think she feels protective over this one in particular because he's the first regeneration after the Time War, but Protective!Rhea will definitely come back with the other Doctors, like in The Christmas Invasion, definitely Midnight (I can't wait to see what Rhea does to the humans in Midnight), Forest of the Dead and Let's Kill Hitler.
Anyways, Read and Review!