Warnings: Language. Angst. Fluff. Sexual Content.
The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday
Chapter 82
Father's Day: Sweet Child O'Mine
The next morning, Rhea found herself in a strange bed, which, of course, set off alarm bells that had her flashing to moments in her life that were best left laid to rest. She fisted her hands in the sheet below her, her elbow knocking against a thick arm beside her inadvertently. Suddenly, she was straddling the stranger, a hand grasping at his throat.
Her hold slackened when her eyes met a familiar, surprised blue pair.
"Sorry," she muttered.
His large palm on her waist squeezed and her shoulders loosened. "It's okay."
She slipped off him, gracefully, and laid back down next to him, still as a statue.
"In anticipation for the next time this happens, was it something I did?" the Doctor asked, curiously.
Rhea flickered a smile and twisted herself so that she was lying on her side and facing him.
"Not at all," she said, reassuringly. "I just… jumped, I guess." She shrugged.
"Ah, fair enough." He beamed at her. The lines of his face settled in a frown. "Is this the first time you've seen me in a while?"
Rhea nodded, awkwardly.
"When was the last time you saw me?"
Rhea cleared her throat. She hadn't felt so out of sorts in a long time. "Um, it would have to be when the alien spaceship crashed into the Big Ben," she answered, lamely.
It sucked to be caught off-guard like this. Now, she was all nervous and neurotic, too wary to approach him like she normally would.
"So, question?"
He hummed in curiosity.
"Hypothetically speaking, if our relationship dynamic had changed dramatically since the last time I saw you, would you be indisposed to be conforming to said relationship dynamic change?" she asked, hesitantly.
God, she hated sounding like she was fifteen and talking to some boy she had a crush on – not that she had used such big words with boys at fifteen, because then they would have just stared at her with that stupid look on their faces and she would've lost all interest (it was better to keep the mystery alive).
He cleared his throat. "Is this hypothetical relationship dynamic change positive or negative?"
Rhea tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "In my view, it's positive." She paused. "Hypothetically," she hastened to add.
His lip quirked up at the corner. "Is this your way of asking me if you can kiss me, Rhea?" he asked, amused.
Rhea bit her lip. "Well, yes," she admitted, reluctantly.
"You never have to ask permission," the Doctor said, solemnly, snatching her wrist in his hand and holding it against his heart.
Rhea fluttered her eyelashes at his gentle touch. "Good."
And when she leaned in and kissed him – this new Doctor of hers, not so new but one she hadn't quite partook in yet –, it felt like the universe was coming together again.
Rhea sat on the captain's chair, swinging around in circles, while the Doctor fiddled with the console absentmindedly. Every now and then, she would give him that secret, sly smile of hers and toss her hair, baring her shoulders to him, which had his mouth tightening and his pupils dilating – something which she took full advantage of.
"So, where are we going today?" she asked, curiously.
Someone cleared their throat and Rhea turned around to the entrance of the console room, to find Rose standing there sheepishly, hands in her pockets.
"Sorry, didn't mean to disturb… whatever." Rose gestured, vaguely, to the space between the Doctor and Rhea.
Rhea's lips twitched. She hadn't seen Rose since their escapade with Sarah Jane, long before the Doctor and Rhea had begun their relationship (it made her twist uncomfortably at how easily that definition had come to her), and she had to admit that it was refreshing to see her again.
"I actually had a suggestion," Rose offered, striding purposefully towards where the Doctor and Rhea were situated around the console.
"Oh?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it, then."
Rose swallowed and steeled herself for what was to follow. "Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th of September 1954."
Rose told a story of how her mother could sit her down on the bed and show her a photo of her father, who died on the 7th of November 1987, the day of a wedding for two of their friends.
"My mum always says that he would have loved to have seen me now," Rose finished, grimly. "So, I was thinking... could we? Could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?"
The Doctor and Rhea exchanged a wary look.
"Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" he asked, curiously.
Rose sighed, defeated. "All right then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of times or something, then never mind, we'll just leave it," she said, just a touch of annoyance to her words, which rubbed Rhea the wrong way.
She recognised reverse psychology where she could see it. And Rose was definitely manipulating the Doctor into something.
Rhea narrowed her eyes. She didn't like that at all, but the Doctor was capable of making his own decisions and she was a firm believer in free will. She had no intention of telling him what to think or do (he was a grown man, or Time Lord, as it were), nor was she one of those people who saw a threat in anyone who dared to speak to their significant other.
"No, I can do anything," the Doctor declared.
Rhea rolled her eyes. Obviously, Rose had wounded his ego.
"I'm just more worried about you."
"I wanna see him," Rose said, adamantly.
"Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for," the Doctor warned, gently, starting up the TARDIS engines.
"Do you always have to be so obvious?" Rose hissed at Rhea.
Rhea looked down at her fern, white and black colour-blocked maxi dress, which was tailored to her knees before flaring out to her ankles.
"This is my regular style, deal with it," Rhea retorted.
The three of them sat at the back of a small crowd in a register office, witnessing Jackie and Pete's marriage.
"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline, Angela, Suzette Prentiss..."
"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne... Suzette... Anita..." Pete stammered.
Jackie narrowed her eyes slightly and Pete looked at the Registrar for help.
Jackie sighed in resignation. "Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di," she muttered.
Rhea snorted and the Doctor grinned, looking down at Rose, who simply looked morose, despite the sweetness of the moment between her parents.
"I thought he'd be taller," she murmured, regretfully.
"...to be my lawful wedded wife, to love and behold 'til death us do part."
"Nobody was with him when he died," Rose said, roughly. "It was a hit and run driver. My mum never found out who. He was dead when the ambulance got there. My mum-she used to say that she only wished there'd been someone there for him." She looked at the two, entreatingly. "I wanna be that someone. So he doesn't die alone." She said, firmly.
"Uh, can I talk to you for a second?" Rhea patted the Doctor, purposefully, on the ribcage.
Rose glowered at her and Rhea knew she may have just made an enemy in her.
Pity, but it wouldn't sway her.
"Rhea, what's wrong?" the Doctor frowned, worriedly, down at her.
"This is a bad idea," Rhea deliberately did not shoot the suspicious look she had been wanting to since the day began at Rose. "This is a monumentally stupid idea."
"Rhea," the Doctor sighed. "She just wants to be there for her dad when he dies."
"Asking a girl who hero-worships a dead father she's put on a pedestal her entire life to idly stand by while her father dies is asking for trouble," Rhea hissed. "Believe me when I say this, you will not like the consequences of this."
"Rose wouldn't do anything," the Doctor protested.
"Why are you being so stubborn?" Rhea demanded.
"Why are you being so suspicious?" The Doctor shot back. "Look, I know how your mind works, but maybe just put down the paranoia for a moment and try and be understanding with a friend who's been through something that you have too."
Rhea's lips tightened and she spun away without a word, settling herself in the captain's chair and tossing her hair as if her stomach was growing hot with anger at his indifference and condescension of her concern.
"November the 7th?" the Doctor clarified, striding to the console.
Rhea bit back a scoff and Rose shot Rhea a smug look, to which Rhea narrowed her gaze pointedly – Blondie, you do not want to push me right now.
"1987." Rose nodded.
The Doctor started the engines, which Rose watched apprehensively. When they stopped and the whirring faded, she looked at the door as if she would like nothing more than to run back to her room.
They stepped out of the TARDIS onto a suburban street; it was a still, quiet sort of day and Rose looked around in awe and disbelief.
"That's so weird. The day my father died... I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy, it's just an ordinary day," she murmured.
"The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight," the Doctor commented, lightly. He looked down at Rose, furtively, ignoring Rhea's visible disapproval. "Are you sure about this?"
Rose nodded once and then a second time, more firmly. "Yeah."
They made their way to an ordinary street and stood on the curb of the pavement, waiting, side by side.
"This is it. Jordan Road. He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said, that stupid vase." Rose's voice was thick with tears, just as a card rounded the corner. "He got out of his car..." the car pulled over. "... and crossed the road."
The car stopped.
Rose felt her ribcage cave inside. "Oh, God. This is it."
Rhea pursed her lips and took Rose's hand in hers, squeezing tightly. Pete, oblivious as to what was to come, picked up the vase from the passenger's seat, sliding out of the car, unaware that another car had just rounded the corner and was headed straight towards him. He turned around in a split-second, his eyes widening with shock. Rhea watched as the driver threw a hand over his eyes and Rose quickly hid her head in Rhea's shoulder before she could see anything further.
It was all very dramatic in the end. The car hit Pete dead-on and the vase slipped from his fingers, falling to the ground and shattering. Something rattled in Rose's chest and she looked up, only to find her father lying on the road, twitching as the life left his body.
"Go to him. Quick," the Doctor urged, quietly.
But Rose couldn't bring herself to move.
Minutes later, the three found themselves leaning against the wall as ambulance sirens sounded. Rose had her arms wrapped around her body, shaking as tears flooded her eyes. Rhea placed a comforting hand on where Rose's arms met in the centre of her torso and Rose slackened her limbs, clutching onto Rhea's hand for dear life.
"It's too late now," she said, hoarsely. The Doctor looked at her, while Rhea cocked her head. "By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead." Her voice faltered, congealed with tears. The Doctor looked away in silence and Rose turned to him, desperately. "He can't die on his own." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Can I try again?"
Shit. I hate being right.
The Doctor's fists clenched in reluctance, but he was unable to deny her in the end.
The three stood out of sight around the corner, watching the first set of themselves standing on the curb. Rhea had actually protested to coming, stating that she would rather remain in the TARDIS than watch as the Titanic hit the iceberg (pun unintended) before her very eyes in slow motion even though she had been the only smart person within fifty kilometres and warned the Doctor that this is exactly what she had predicted would happen. But the Doctor forced her out anyway and now she was standing with them, arms crossed over her chest and grumbling something unforgivable about the Doctor under her breath (because apparently, she was being a bitch and not at all compassionate towards the nineteen-year-old who was totally going to screw them over – which, in itself, was stupid because since when had she ever been compassionate?).
Just because her own father had died in similar circumstances (and she wasn't even going to mention the fact that she had spent seventeen, good, long, loving years with her own father and she had actually been in the same goddamn car when that truck had rammed right into them and had shoved the bumper right through his chest because she had begged him to go with her to the store all to buy a fucking tub of mint-chip ice-cream, and Rose's father had died when she was a baby and all she knew of him were her mother's stories, which she was obviously disappointed by in some way – not that her pain and grief wasn't legitimate, of course, but it didn't give her a free pass on stupidity)doesn't mean that she was just going to immediately bow and scrape to the adolescent girl who was making a beyond risky mistake here.
"Right. That's the first 'us'. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us. Wait 'til she runs off and they follow, then go to your dad," the Doctor warned.
For the second time, Rose's father's car drew up to the curb on the opposite side of the road.
"Oh, God. This is it," the first Rose breathed.
Pete picked up the vase from the passenger seat.
"I can't do this," Rose said, hoarsely, shaking her head.
The Doctor shook his head. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the last time we can be here."
Rose stared at her father as he got out of the car, taking a slow, deep breath. And then she shot forwards, running into the street.
"Rose! No!" the Doctor shouted after her.
The car rounded the corner. Rose raced past the first set of the Doctor and Rhea and Rose, and knocked her father out of the way of the oncoming car. They tumbled onto the floor and the first set of the three look bewildered for a few seconds, as they faded into nothing. The Doctor looked on in horror as Rhea closed her eyes, cursing herself for calling this right from the beginning. Rose stared at her father in disbelief as he stumbled to his feet.
"I did it! I saved your life!" Rose exclaimed.
"Blimey," Pete choked out. "Did you see the speed of it? Did you get his number?"
"I really did it. Oh, my God, look at you! You're alive! That car was gonna kill ya!" Rose blurted out.
Pete chuckled. "Well, give me some credit, I did see it coming. I wasn't gonna walk under it, was I?"
Rose swallowed hard. "I'm Rose." She looked at him, expectantly, hoping for some recognition.
Pete blinked. "That's a coincidence. That's my daughter's name."
Rose smiled in delight. "That's a great name. Good choice, well done."
There were a few seconds of awkward silence as Rose smiled at him, unable to take her eyes off him, while Pete looked like he would rather be anywhere but there.
Pete cleared his throat. "Right, I'd better shift. I've got a wedding to go to."
"Is that Sarah Clarke's wedding?" Rose asked, suddenly, taking an eager step forwards, unwilling to just let him walk away from her.
Pete frowned. "Yeah, are you going?"
Rose paused. "... Yeah."
"You and your friends need a lift?" Pete asked, curiously.
He gestured to the Doctor, who was glowering at the pair, and Rhea, whose features were etched in disapproval with just the slightest shred of understanding, standing by the corner.
"Oh, joy," Rhea sighed. "I have to mediate now, don't I? Definitely a part of my job that I didn't fucking miss," she muttered.
Pete entered the flat, followed by Rose, Rhea and the Doctor, putting the vase down next to the door.
"There we go. Sorry about the mess," Pete said, apologetically. "If you want a cup of tea, the kitchen's just down there, milk's in the fridge..." He paused. "Well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk? Mind you, there's always the window sill outside." He offered. "I always thought if someone invented a window sill with special compartments, you know, one for milk, one for yogurt... make a lot of money out of that."
Rose still was unable to tear her eyes away from him, smiling at him in unabashed delight as he spoke – clearly, he could've been talking complete nonsense and she would've still been mesmerised. The Doctor nodded politely behind her, certain if he opened his mouth, Rose would not survive the tongue lashing.
Rhea, on the other hand, had no such compunction.
"Wouldn't it spoil?" Rhea asked, pointedly. "If you kept milk on the window sill, that is."
Rose gave Rhea a dark look, to which she simply raised an eyebrow – people who break the space-time continuum don't get to throw stones, Blondie.
Pete stilled. "Good point." He shook his head. "Anyway, never mind that, excuse me..."
He pushed past them and disappeared through a door. Rose looked around, her hands itching to touch this remnant of the past she never thought she would witness – what it must have been like for her parents, newlyweds and in love and with their beautiful baby girl, before a car came and stole that happy ending away and her mother lost herself in drink and men she could never love half as much as she did her dead husband. And if she had saved that happy ending, there could be nothing wrong with her actions.
"All the stuff mum kept. His stuff. She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard, she used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink," Rose explained, lightly. The Doctor leaned against the doorframe, silent. "Here it is. On display." She shot the other two. "Where it should be." She said, adamantly.
Rhea rolled her eyes.
The Doctor continued to remain quiet, just observing Rose with his arms folded across his broad chest, his face set angrily. Rose picked up a trophy and brandished it in their direction, as if it were evidence.
"Third prize at the bowling... first two got to go to Didcot," Rose said, lightly, clearly quoting what she must have heard her mother say a thousand times. She examined it for a few more seconds and then placed it back. Her eye was drawn by large bottles in the corner of the room, which she bent down to look at. "Health drinks. Tonics, mum used to call them. He made his money selling this Vitex stuff. He had all sorts of jobs. He's so clever." She gushed.
Rhea eyed the Doctor, carefully, wondering when the moment would come where he would finally snap at Rose, standing on her heels as she waited for the inevitable instance where she would have to intercede between the stubborn Time Lord and self-righteous human girl.
Rose looked around and spotted some plans on the table. "Solar power. Mum said he was gonna do this. Now he can." She looked at the Doctor, smiling, who didn't smile back.
The Doctor pursed his lips. "When we met, I said 'travel with me in space'. You said no. Then I said 'time machine'," he said, pointedly.
Rhea hung her head.
Good job, Rose. He's never gonna trust anyone again.
"It wasn't some big plan," Rose said, defensively. "I just saw it happening and I thought... I can stop it."
"I did it again. I picked another stupid ape."
"Doctor," Rhea began, warningly.
"I should've known. It's not about showing you the universe, it never is. It's about the universe doing something for you," the Doctor snapped.
Rose scowled, her hackles rising. "So, it's okay when you go to other times, and you save people's lives, but not when it's me saving my dad."
"Okay, enough, you two!" Rhea said, sharply.
"Why are you taking her side?" the Doctor demanded. "You were the one who told me this was a bad idea!"
"No, I'm not-I'm not taking her side," Rhea stressed. "There are no sides here. Look, Rose wanting to save her father was a perfectly legitimate emotional reaction-"
"Thank you!" Rose exclaimed, smugly.
"Rhea!" the Doctor snapped.
"But-" Rhea continued, shooting both the Doctor and Rose a dark glower that had them silencing. "It was also a very stupid emotional reaction," she finished.
"How can you say that?" Rose cried out. "You're telling me if you could save your dad from dying, you wouldn't?" she asked, disbelievingly.
"Okay, first of all, my dad died in a car accident behind the wheel of a car he was driving, so short of dismantling the damn engine, there'd be no way of stopping that from happening." Rhea shook her head. "And second of all, as much as it kills me to say this, I wouldn't."
"Like hell you wouldn't," Rose scorned.
"I wouldn't," Rhea said, coldly. "Rose, do you actually understand what you've done?" She asked, gently. "Putting aside the consequences of your father now living in a world that he didn't exist before, the only reason you saved your father from being hit by that car is because you knew he would die in that accident. But now that you saved him, you, the you who had a father who died in a car accident doesn't exist anymore. And if your father didn't die in that accident, why would Rose Tyler go back in time to save him? You just created a paradox. And from personal experience, those don't end well."
"Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point," the Doctor said, urgently.
"But he's alive!"
"Oh, for God's sake," Rhea muttered. "Didn't you ever read Flashpoint?" She snapped.
"What the hell is Flashpoint?"
"It's a DC comics storyline." Rhea waved off. "And I'm pretty sure it hasn't come out yet, but the gist of it is-"
"Can we please not cause any more time catastrophes today?" The Doctor growled.
"Oh, shut up," Rhea retorted. "It's a fucking comic book storyline, it's the equivalent of reading spoilers online. Anyway," She glowered at the Doctor. "In the story, the Flash goes back in time to save his mother from dying and when he returns to his own time, he finds out that he's not the Flash anymore; Bruce Wayne is dead and his father is Batman; Wonder Woman and Aquaman are literally destroying the planet and Superman is being used as a lab rat by the US military without ever meeting Jonathan and Martha Kent."
"But that's just a superhero story, what does that have to do-"
"It's the principle behind it," Rhea snapped. "The Flash thought the same thing you did. He thought what harm could it do if he saved his mother, and it destroyed the planet. Paradox of you saving him in the first place aside, you have no idea what him being alive could cause. What if you never started travelling with the Doctor and I in the first place?"
"What are you talking about?" Rose shook her head.
"Well, you probably would have a very fulfilled life, what with both your parents being alive and together, so why would you come with the Doctor and I? And if you never came with the Doctor and I, imagine all the events that would change just because you weren't there, not to mention you wouldn't have even been able to come back to the past to save your father from dying in the first place. It's not just your father's future that matters, Rose, it's everyone he has affected, is affecting, would have affected or will affect."
The Doctor took a deep breath. "My entire planet died. My whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?" he asked, pointedly.
"But it's not like I've changed history. Not much, I mean... he's never gonna be a world leader, he's not gonna start World War Three or anything..." Rose insisted.
The Doctor took a step towards her. "Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man, that's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive," he said, urgently.
"What, would you rather him dead?" Rose asked, harshly.
"I'm not saying that-" the Doctor exclaimed, exasperatedly.
"No, I get it! For once, you're not the most important man in my life," Rose shot back.
The Doctor scowled immediately. "Let's see how you get on without me, then, give me the key." He held his hand out and Rose stared at him in disbelief. "The TARDIS key. If I'm so insignificant, give it back to me."
Rose took in an angry breath, her face blotted red. She hurriedly yanked the key out of her pocket. "All right then, I will," she spat, slamming it down into his hand, hard.
The Doctor glared at her. "Well, you've got what you wanted, so that's goodbye then."
He turned on her and walked down the hallway to the door, Rhea and Rose pursuing him, the latter's footfalls crackling with her offended, humiliated anger.
"You don't scare me," Rose hissed, unconvincingly. They could see her hesitation in her eyes as she stood in front of them, between them and the door. "I know how sad you are. You'll be back in a minute. Or you'll hang around outside the TARDIS waiting for me." She gloated.
"Just my opinion, but maybe arrogance isn't the way to play this," Rhea said, sternly.
Rose bit back a retort. "And I'll make you wait a long time!" she shouted after them as they walked out of the apartment.
She slammed the door shut after them, and then leaned against the wall breathing heavily.
Still fuming, the Doctor strode back down the road, Rhea silent beside him. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to her.
"I'm sorry, I should've listened to you," the Doctor said, quietly.
Rhea pursed her lips. "You know I'm smart, right. That's not arrogance; that's fact. I don't say things just because I like hearing the sound of my own voice," she said, scathingly.
It was her modus operandi when her chords were struck. Nowadays, it was easier to be vicious than merciful.
"I know," the Doctor offered.
"Then why didn't you trust me?" Rhea asked, curiously.
"I don't know," the Doctor huffed. "I just didn't want to disappoint Rose. I didn't think she'd ever do something stupid like that and I thought you were overreacting." He admitted.
"She looks at you like you're a hero," Rhea said, knowingly. "That's why you like her so much."
The Doctor looked at her, strangely. "What do you mean?"
"She doesn't see all those dark things that you hate about yourself," Rhea shrugged. "All she sees is the eccentric, wise old alien who takes her around in his time machine and encourages her whole globetrotter bucket list, when I imagine a lot of people have shut her down for it. I can see how it's refreshing."
"Rhea-" The Doctor began, uneasily.
"I'm not jealous," Rhea hastened to soothe. "I mean, she's nineteen and impressionable and I'd be beating you with a stick if I thought it were anything but friendship. I know how you feel about me, Doctor. Yes, I have my own misgivings and self-esteem issues, but they're my baggage; they're not an indictment of how you've treated me or how you've expressed your feelings to me. But, what I meant to say is that I'm not a bright, cheery girl who looks at you like you're the sun. Not that you're not amazing, because you are, but I've been through enough shit in my life not to see anyone like that. Those dark things that you hate about yourself? I have them too. That's why we're good together. There are no veils between us." She smiled. "But you aren't like that with Rose. You think if you were to show her who you really are, all nine-hundred years, she'd run away screaming. And it makes you feel good, when she looks at you like you can't do any wrong. It makes you feel strong and powerful and good and righteous, when you have someone's faith like that."
"How do you know that?"
Rhea hummed. "Because you look at me like that sometimes. You look at me like I'm a good person and I know I'm not."
"Rhea, that's not true," the Doctor said, firmly. "You're good. I know you're good. I've always known you're good."
Rhea held up a hand. "No, I help people because I genuinely want to help them. But there's a disconnect nowadays. Ever since Damian, I've not felt normal. Like there's something missing. I don't work with people anymore. It's more of an effort, like I reach out and I need to go just a bit further but my legs get stuck and I'm just in this dead space. You know, it used to come easily to me before." She bit her lip. "But then I met you, and it felt like I was Rhea again. I haven't felt like Rhea in a long time," she said, wistfully. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, back to Rose, what she did and what she said hurt you and made you angry because she stopped looking at you like you were her hero. She was right. She was being a bitch, but there's a part of her that was right. Yes, she made a dumb choice. Yes, she was being an arrogant little brat about said dumb choice. And yes, you have every right to be angry at her, yell at her, and kick her out of the TARDIS because what she did was selfish and it could potentially hurt a lot of people."
"What are you trying to say?" The Doctor asked, wearily.
"I'm saying, just know why you're angry first before you come to a decision," Rhea said, gently. She paused. "Plus, you can't actually leave her in 1987. It's a dick move, no matter what she's done."
The Doctor looked away. "You're saying I should forgive her," he said, quietly.
"No, I'm saying this isn't the time to put her on trial for her crimes. She did a very stupid thing, yes. But, now we have to figure out how to fix what she's done," Rhea said, firmly.
The Doctor shook his head. "Easier said than done, Rhea. This is her fault," he insisted. "I don't understand why I should let bygones be bygones when she made the choice to save her father, knowing it would be a stupid idea. Aren't you the one who always says that people should be held accountable for the choices they make?"
"Absolutely," Rhea said, sharply. "She should be held accountable. She should own up to her shit. And she owes us both one hell of an apology. But priorities wise, playing judge, jury and executioner is pretty low on my list." She pursed her lips. "And not that I'm trying to pick a fight or anything, but you're blaming her for an action you should've seen coming." She finished, plainly.
"So, now you're saying it's my fault?" the Doctor said, disbelievingly.
"No, I'm saying that this is a girl who's had it drilled it into her head since she was a baby about how great her father was and how unfair it was that he died. Anyone in her position would've done the same thing. So, what were you expecting from her?"
"You wouldn't have," the Doctor accused.
"I have ten years on Rose," Rhea said, lightly. "Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't, yes. But if you had put nineteen-year-old me right where my father died, I sure as hell would've tried to save him. He was my dad, Doctor. If you know me half as well as you say you know me, you know how much I loved him." She finished, fiercely.
"You didn't sound so appreciative of her choice when you were having a go at her," the Doctor muttered.
"I'm not. All I'm doing is trying to show you another point of view." Rhea patted him on the chest. "If you always looked from your own perspective, everything seems easy. But life's not easy. Everyone has their own truth, Doctor, and everyone has a justification for everything. I'm not saying you have to accept her point of view; you don't owe her anything. But life's too short to lose good friends and whether you like it or not, it's over; Rose screwed up, but it's done. She made the choice and Pete's alive. Put the anger aside for a little while. There's no point in bitching about it now." Her voice was firm at the end.
"I love you," the Doctor said, suddenly, looking at her with such fondness that it had her heart hammering in her ribcage. "What would I do without you?"
Rhea scoffed, but her eyes couldn't hide the requital of his feelings. "I'm sure you'd get by."
His only reply was to kiss her fiercely on the mouth until her hands were shaking.
At the flat, Rose busied herself by picking up peanuts that were strewn over the coffee table, putting them back on a plate. Pete entered, now dressed in a suit.
"Excuse me, do you mind? What're you tidying up for?" Pete asked, confused.
Rose stilled. She chuckled, nervously. "Sorry... force of habit."
"Listen, don't worry about them. Mates have rows all the time," Pete said, reassuringly.
Rose sighed. "I think they left me."
"Nah, they'd be bonkers." Pete waved off. "You'll see, they'll be showing up sooner or later."
Rose jumped to her feet, grabbed her jacket and offered her arm to Pete. "Right, are we off?"
Pete sighed and took her arm resignedly, and they walked to the door.
"I'll take you back to the loony bin where you belong. Still, I'm sure I've met you somewhere before..." Pete muttered to themselves as they left the flat.
The Doctor and Rhea rounded the corner to the road where they had parked the TARDIS, a bird cawing in the distance. Once they reached the double doors, the Doctor took a key from his pocket and paused, the hair on the back of his neck prickling in warning. Rhea's hand curled around his muscled forearm and when he looked at her, pale and sick with a hand on her a stomach as if to choke back the urge to retch, he knew she felt the same way. They looked up at the sky, through the bare branches of a tree, with a frown. The Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS only to find the inside of an ordinary police telephone box, as if the insides of the TARDIS – all that wonder and splendour – had been gouged out mercilessly. The Doctor stepped inside and patted his hands against the walls frantically, before gifting Rhea with a horrified look.
She smiled at him, weakly. "I'm guessing this is what 'consequences' are?"
The Doctor stepped down back onto the pavement and he clutched at her shoulders, raking his eyes over her with concern, taking in the ashen hue to her face and the pain he could see she was biting back.
"This is hurting you," he said, solemnly. "Whatever Rose did."
Rhea nodded, grimly. "Started off as a headache. Brushed it off. Then my stomach hurt. Brushed it off again. And then it all just started to meld together and-" She swayed on her feet and the Doctor pulled her against his chest. "I fucking hate when this happens," she muttered against his sternum.
The Doctor pulled away to look at her with concern and just the slightest fear in his pale eyes. "This has happened before?"
"Well, to me, not to you," she waved off. "Spoilers."
"Looks like I have a lot to look forward to," the Doctor mumbled. He threaded fingers in her hair and stroked through to a soothing rhythm. "We need to get you somewhere safe. If the TARDIS is gone, then that can only mean that a reaper is here."
"A reaper?"
"A reaper is a being linked to time itself. They search for temporal paradoxes."
Realisation dawned. "Like the one that Rose just created," she said, slowly.
The Doctor nodded. "If the balance of time was disrupted, they would be drawn out in force to remove the offending element."
"You mean Rose." Rhea gritted her teeth against the wave of pain that rocked her body.
"They will destroy everything in their path until the wound is cleansed," the Doctor said, soberly, catching her where she pitched forwards.
Rhea huffed. "Fine, let's go."
They sped off (or in Rhea's case, stumbled) in the direction from which they came.
Pete was driving his car with Rose in the passenger seat.
"I met this bloke at the Horse's, and he's cutting me in on copyright," Pete finished explaining.
Rose's brow furrowed. "But I thought you were a proper businessman and that..." she trailed off, disappointed.
"I wish!" Pete crowed. "Ah, I do a bit of this, a bit of that… a straight bloke." He nodded, firmly.
Rose cleared her throat. "Right... so I must've heard wrong. So really you're a bit of a... a Del Boy?" she stammered.
Pete laughed. "Oh, shoot me down in flames. You're not related to my wife by any chance, are you?"
Rose muffled a sound of shock by placing a hand over her mouth. "Oh, my God... she's gonna be at the wedding," she breathed.
Pete frowned. "What, Jackie? Do you know her?"
Rose paused. "Sort of," she said, awkwardly.
Pete raised an eyebrow. "What's she told you about me, then?"
Rose smiled, despite the oddness of the moment. "She said she'd picked the most fantastic man in the world," she said, sincerely.
Pete laughed. "Must be a different Jackie, then. She'd never say that."
After a few seconds of silence, the radio sprung into life, rap music blaring from the speaker, which irritated Pete.
"This stuff goes right over my head," he muttered.
Rose narrowed her eyes. "That's not out yet," she said, confused.
Pete grimaced. "It's a good job and all."
Rose reached for her mobile. "I'm just gonna check my messages."
Pete frowned. "How d'ya mean, messages?" His eyes widened when he saw the small device in her hand. "Is that a phone?" he asked, in awe.
Rose cleared her throat. "Yeah…" she trailed off, holding the phone to her ear.
"Watson, come here, we need you. Watson, come here, we need you."
Rose furrowed her brow in confusion and glanced at her father, who also looked bewildered.
"Watson, come here, we need you."
Pete looked in the mirror at the car that was trailing behind them – the same car that should have killed him earlier. It approached them, until it was right on their tail, then rounded a corner and vanished, the driver throwing a hand over his eyes before it did so.
Pete and Rose rounded the corner and suddenly, the car that should have killed Pete appeared out of thin air and headed straight towards them.
Rose's eyes widened. "Dad!" she screamed.
Pete swerved to avoid the car, beeping the horn, but the car sped off down the road. Pete turned around in his seat to look at it, whilst Rose sat looking straight ahead of her, shaken.
"It's that car! The same one as before!" Pete exclaimed.
They both got out of the car once they had reached the church, Pete looking around.
"It was right in front of us, where's it gone?" Pete asked, confused. He caught Rose's eye. "You called me 'dad', what did you say that for?"
Jackie suddenly appeared out of nowhere, a carry-tot in her hands, an expression of scorn on her made-up features.
"Oh, wonderful. Here he is, the accident waiting to happen," she growled. Rose stared at her in disbelief. "You'd be late for your own funeral and it nearly was!" She snapped.
Pete rocked back on his heels, as if he were used to her brand of vitriol. "No damage done," he said, tightly.
Jackie glanced disdainfully at Rose, eyeing her up and down like there wasn't much to look at. "And who's this?" Rose continued to stare. "What're you looking at with your mouth open?"
"Your hair," Rose blurted out, staring at the curl of it that was gathered on top of her head.
"What?!"
"I've never seen it like-" Rose stammered. Jackie stared at her, looking both confused and insulted. "I mean... it's lovely, your hair's lovely," she amended, lamely. She spotted the baby (well, it was her) in the carry-tot and took a few small steps towards it, her eyes wide. "And that baby you're holding..." Jackie's eyes narrowed, holding the baby to her protectively, completely nonplussed by Rose's sentence fragments. "That would be... your baby..." She trailed off.
Jackie turned to Pete, a glint in her eyes. "Another one of yours, is she?" she said, scathingly.
"She saved my life!" Pete protested.
"Oh, that's a new one! What was it last time?" Jackie scoffed.
Pete shook his head, as if they had this same argument a thousand times. "I didn't even know her. She was a cloakroom attendant. I was helping her look for my ticket. There were three duffel coats all the same, somehow the rack collapsed. We were under all this stuff."
Rose turned white with horror. "Were you playing around?!"
"What's it got to do with you what he gets up to?" Jackie snapped.
Rose's voice rose alarmingly high-pitched. "What does he get up to?"
"You'd know," Jackie shot back
Pete rolled his eyes. "Oh, 'cause I'm that stupid. I play around and then bring her home to meet the missus. You silly cow..." he muttered.
"But you are that stupid," Jackie said, snidely.
Pete sighed, long-sufferingly. "Can we keep this stuff back home? Just for now?"
Jackie raised an eyebrow. "What, with the rest of the rubbish?" she hissed, missing Rose's fallen face. "You bring home cut-priced detergents, tonic water, Betamax tape and none of it works – I'm drowning in your rubbish," she spat. She turned to Rose, some twisted triumph in her eyes. "What did he tell you? Did he say he's this big businessman? 'Cause he's not. He's a failure. Born failure, that one. Rose needs a proper father-"
Pete began to talk over her. "Jackie, I'm making a living, it keeps us fed, don't it?"
"Stop it!" Rose shouted, the perfect picture of her terribly-in-love parents shattering before her very eyes. "You're not like this… you love each other," she insisted, tears in her eyes.
Jackie grimaced. "Oh, Pete. You never used to like them mental. Or I dunno, maybe you did."
"Jackie, wait, just listen-"
"If you're not careful, there'll be a wedding and a divorce on the same day," Jackie threatened, walking away with baby Rose, who had just started crying.
Pete turned to Rose. "Right, wait here. Give us a couple of minutes with the missus." He began to chase after her, then turned back around again, taking the vase out of her hands and giving her the car keys. "Tell you what, straighten the car up. Stick her round the corner or something. Don't cause anymore trouble…"
He walked off, leaving Rose standing by the car, with her arms wrapped around herself and biting back tears.
Rose watched her mother and father talk to each other from a distance.
"I'm not listening." Jackie shook her head, her voice softer and more grief-stricken than before. "It's just the duffel coats all over again."
"Jackie, sometimes a duffel coat is just a duffel coat. Things will get better soon, I promise." Pete put his hand on her shoulder.
"I've had enough of all your daft schemes. I never know where the next meal's coming from," Jackie whispered.
"I'll get it right, love. I promise, one day soon I'll get it right. Come on..." Pete pleaded.
Rose smiled, softly, as she watched them reunite. At that moment, a terribly familiar-looking small boy ran around the corner.
"Monsters! Coming to eat us!" he panted, coming to a standstill.
One of the women laughed. "What sort of monsters, sweetheart? Is it aliens?"
She and her friends tittered at her joke as Mickey ran into the church. Rose watched him with sad, nostalgic eyes. Behind her, the Doctor and Rhea ran around the corner.
"Rose!" the Doctor called out.
Upon hearing his voice, Rose turned and smiled in a satisfied sort of way.
"Get in the church!" Rhea urged.
Rose's smile faded, hearing the insistence in their voices and the lack of colour in Rhea's face and the way she was holding herself gingerly. The Doctor and Rhea looked somewhere to her left and Rose followed their gaze, only to find a large winged creature bearing down on her. She screamed and the Doctor knocked her out of the way just in time, and they both fell to the ground. Quickly, they both scrambled to their feet.
"Get in the church!" the Doctor shoved at Rose, wrapping an arm around Rhea, who smacked it away with a glare in her eyes.
The crowd outside the church tried to run for the door, but they stopped when another reaper appeared before them.
"Oh, my God. What are they?" one of the women whimpered.
The guests in the church came out to see what the commotion is and some of them screamed when they saw the creature.
"Inside!" Rhea shouted, waving at them.
The reaper bore down on them and the people who had just come out of the church tried to exit the door.
"Stay in there!" the Doctor warned.
The groom stilled and stopped trying to escape. However, an older gentleman, his father, refused to listen and tried to run for it. The reaper swooped down on him, covering his body with its wings. Sarah, horrified, tried to run into the church. The reaper positioned itself before her, and she screamed, waiting for what was to come, but the reaper, aimed for the priest instead. The Doctor ushered the guests before him.
"In!"
The reaper swooped towards the church doors, but the Doctor managed to shut them just in time, the reaper screaming in fury.
Once inside, the guests began to babble in panic. The Doctor looked around at the shadows of the reapers outside the windows.
The Doctor turned to Rhea and settled her down in one of the pews with a wince. He swept a hand across her hair and knelt in front of her.
"You good now?" he asked, worriedly.
Rhea smiled, wearily. "I just need to rest, I think." She took a deep breath and the world swayed. "But if we don't figure out a way to fix this, then I think I'm gonna end up a whole lot worse."
The Doctor gritted his teeth, hating that he couldn't anymore for her (for her). He looked around the architecture of the church.
"They can't get in. Old windows and doors, okay. The older something is, the stronger it is. What else?" the reapers screeched in the distance. His eyes widened. "Go and check the other doors! Move!"
He ran and pushed against a wooden door in the side of the church, Jackie running after him.
"What's happening? What are they?" Jackie asked, quickly, grabbing her arm. "What are they?" she demanded.
"There's been an accident in time, a wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage," the Doctor explained, hurriedly.
Jackie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, time? What're you jabbering on about, time?" she asked, scornfully.
The Doctor took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, irritated, much to Rhea's amusement. "Oh, I might've known you'd argue. Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining-"
"How d'you know my name?" Jackie interjected.
"I haven't got time for this-"
"I've never met you in my life!"
The Doctor glared, darkly, at her. "No, and you never will unless I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this: Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go and check the doors," he growled, pointing in the direction of the doors, his voice loud and commanding.
Jackie turned meek, surprisingly. "Yes, sir," she said, softly.
The Doctor grinned at Rhea, pleased with himself, who simply shook her head as Jackie walked away and the groom approached him.
"I should've done that ages ago," the Doctor remarked.
"My dad was out there," the groom said, suddenly.
The Doctor's face was solemn. "You can mourn him later, right now we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive."
"My dad had-"
"There's nothing I can do for him," the Doctor insisted.
"No. But he had this phone thing. I can't get it to work. I keep getting this voice..."
The Doctor frowned and dialled a number, holding the phone to his ear.
"Watson, come here, we need you. Watson, come here, we need you."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise. Rhea twisted in her seat and watched in curiosity.
"That's the very first phone-call, Alexander Graham Bell." The Doctor handed the groom the phone back. "I don't think the telephone's gonna be much use."
He made to run off again to check another door, but the groom's voice halted him.
"But someone must call the police!" Stuart called out.
"Police can't help you now. No-one can," the Doctor said, grimly. Rose watched him, along with the other guests. "Nothing in this Universe can harm those things. Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilise the wound." He turned to Rose, his eyes flat. "By consuming everything in sight."
"Is this because..." Rose's voice shook. The Doctor's face was devoid of anger, but that didn't mean it was kind by any means. "Is this my fault?" she asked, tentatively.
She didn't get a reply from him, only a look that told her that the answer was yes. He walked past her as if she didn't even exist, only pausing to check over a weak Rhea and kiss her on the forehead (if his look was anything to go by, he also clearly blamed her for whatever was plaguing Rhea).
Pete looked from Rose to the Doctor, his brow furrowed, and then back down at baby Rose in her carry-tot.
A/N: And there's the first chapter of Father's Day. I hope you guys liked the way Rhea reacted to Rose in this chapter. She wasn't completely condemning what Rose did but she still thinks it was a stupid choice that Rose made. I hope you guys approved of the way that Rhea reasoned it as well. It's not that she wouldn't have done what Rose did (I mean, present her wouldn't have done it) but she has enough experience now with the Doctor to know what the consequences are of messing with the timeline that she wouldn't risk it, especially with the whole disaster with the Master. If a younger version of her, much like Rose, had been put at the site of her father's death and she could've stopped it, yes, she probably would've done the same thing as Rose so she's a little more forgiving and she would rather the Doctor forgive her too because as she said, it's a legitimate human and emotional reaction. If you guys have read Dream Weaver, you'll know that my Time Lady OC, the Priestess, denounced what Rose did in Father's Day immediately because from a Time Lord/Lady's POV, it was a terrible offence what Rose did. So, I wanted to show a softer, human POV of what would happen here. Because Rhea does understand where Rose is coming from; her dad's dead too. But would she do the same, now? Probably not, knowing what the consequences are.
And yes, because of the paradox, Rhea is sick, much like with the whole paradox machine. I thought Flashpoint was a good metaphor to use and if you guys haven't watched the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, I urge you to watch it, because it is pretty brutal but honest.
Anyway, recommendations aside, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and hopefully you didn't think Rhea was too harsh on Rose, or Rose was portrayed as a bitch (because she was a little too arrogant for my tastes in the first bit of the episode and Rhea definitely wouldn't stand for that). See you guys next chapter!
Reviews:
Sophie Marcel: Thank you!
Kore353: Thank you! I definitely had the plan for her to be in a relationship with 12, in the same way she's in a relationship with 9, 10 and 11. But I never actually got around to doing a relationship with the two of them together.
NicoleR85: Thank you!
deathb4beauty: Thank you!