Chapter 3
Rose retreated to her office to grab supplies but was moving slower than usual as she mulled over the briefing. The human Doctor, as she had a tendency to think of him, had been the most Doctor-ish she'd seen since the day the TARDIS left Bad Wolf Bay. Being Earth-bound must have been hard on someone so used to travelling, someone who lived for adventure. She felt a pang of guilt for running away instead of helping him adjust.
She grabbed a short black dress she kept hanging on the back of the door for times she had to run straight from work to some event of Pete's. It had taken awhile for her to get used to being a minor celebrity in this world. Pete's PR people had spun a fantastic story of the baby Pete and Jackie Tyler had given up for adoption when they were a struggling young couple, how Rose Tyler finally found her birth parents and was reunited with them. No one outside of Torchwood knew her mum wasn't this world's Jackie Tyler, who had actually died at the hands of the Cybermen years earlier.
Rose Tyler, the Vitex heiress, was a Cinderella story. Before she met the Doctor, she imagined how fun being rich and famous would be. The clothes and the parties would be amazing. In reality, it had been a bit of a nuisance, taking time away from her efforts to get back to her own world and to the Doctor.
Rose changed from her jeans into the sleek black dress that hugged her figure. It was from some posh designer she hadn't heard of before coming to this world. She ran her hands through her blonde hair, slipped her feet into gold flats, and added a few swipes of mascara. Rose had a small black satin clutch that she wished were bigger on the inside to hold more than just the bare necessities. She stuffed her mobile, a Torchwood-issued energy pistol, and a couple items she kept in a locked desk drawer into the bag and pulled the thin chain strap over her shoulder.
A knock on the door told her it was time to go. She grabbed the door handle expecting Jake to yell at her to hurry up but found the Doctor standing outside her door. He'd exchanged his suit for a tux and white Converse for black. She had no idea where he'd found a tux so quickly. They stared at each other in silence for a moment before the Doctor offered her his arm. Rose hesitated only a moment before slipping her arm through his.
"How did you end up on the Titanic?" Rose asked, finally breaking the silence as they walked. "In the other world."
"Crashed into the TARDIS. Thought we'd gone off course and landed in 1912 for a moment."
"We?" Rose couldn't help ask. She wanted to kick herself for sounding jealous.
"Just me and the TARDIS. Wasn't long after Martha had decided she'd had enough of me."
Rose didn't know much about Martha other than she liked her attitude. The TARDIS had been too crowded on the journey back to have a chance to talk to her, but she'd been surprised when Martha knew exactly who she was. She almost felt like the other woman was just a little jealous of her. How anyone could be jealous of a girl who got trapped in a parallel world, she didn't know.
"So how exactly are we supposed to get there? Zeppelin?"
"Huh?" Rose asked, pulling herself out of her thoughts.
"I was kidding about the zeppelin. Aboard the Titanic," the Doctor clarified.
"Oh, transmat beam." At the Doctor's puzzled expression, she added, "This world developed a dimension cannon and you're questioning the transmat?"
She led him to a lab within Torchwood he hadn't seen before. Grey concrete walls stretched two stories high. Lights of all colours blinked on consoles, and people scurried to and fro. Mirrored posts formed an octagon in one part of the room with a myriad of wires strung between the posts.
"This is your transmat?" the Doctor asked sceptically.
Rose pulled her arm from his. "Unless you've got a vortex manipulator or a TARDIS in your pocket, yes."
"Working on it," he mumbled under his breath.
"From what Doctor Smith has told us, we're going to put you on the bridge of the ship," the cool blonde woman at the console informed them.
"Right, thanks," Rose said as she gave the sleeve of the Doctor's tux a tug. "Come on!" She grabbed his hand and pressed a small plastic object in it.
"An earbud?" The Doctor asked suspiciously, thinking back to how the ubiquitous devices were corrupted for use as mind control the first time they visited this parallel world.
Rose placed her own in her right ear. "Not like those. We use it for translation. There's nothing that can provide telepathic translation on this world."
The Doctor reluctantly inserted the translator in his ear and joined Rose inside the octagon. When they materialised on the ship, the Doctor took a brief moment to pat himself down and ensure all of him was in the right place.
The bridge of the Titanic looked just like he remembered except that the large wooden wheel of the ship was controlled by a single tall golden android. No halos this time, he noted, and this android wore a navy blue uniform instead of a white robe.
"Where's Midshipman Frame?" the Doctor asked. Rose had no idea who he was talking about.
The android's passive face turned to them. "Information: there is no being by that name aboard the Titanic."
"That's too bad. I rather liked Alonso." The Doctor looked over the screens reporting the ship's status. "Engines operational. Shields operational. Maybe this was just a false alarm."
Rose doubted there was any such thing where the Doctor was concerned.
"What is the purpose of this voyage?" he asked the android.
"Information: to experience the primitive culture of Earth."
"Well, now, it's not that primitive."
Rose elbowed him. "This from the man known to call humans 'stupid apes'."
"First of all, that was the last me, and second, I'd be insulting myself now if I said that. Come on," he said grabbing her hand. "Might as well look around since we're here.
The ship was lavish, not that Rose had ever seen even a regular seafaring cruise ship in person. They found a lounge a few floors down from the bridge where a party was in full swing. The room was gorgeous but strangely old-fashioned with crystal chandeliers and antique wood furniture with velvet upholstery. Black and white-clad servers passed drinks and hors d'oeuvres whilst a band played on a small stage. Elegant passengers wore tuxedos and long evening gowns. Rose actually felt slightly underdressed in her knee-length dress, even if it was couture.
"Excuse me!" A haughty-looking man with a large nose and thin moustache bustled up to them. He looked so stiff and fussy he probably starched his tuxedo. "This is the first-class lounge. May I see your tickets?"
The Doctor started patting down his pockets as he contemplated how he could talk his way out of this situation. The fussy man just stared disdainfully at the Doctor's trainers.
"Here you go," Rose said calmly, as she pulled something out of her purse and handed it to the man.
Suddenly the man's haughty attitude transformed into a simpering smile as he passed the small folio back to Rose. "Miss Tyler, Doctor Smith, please accept my sincere apologies. We've had tourist-class passengers try to sneak into the lounge. Do let me know if there's anything I can do to make your voyage more enjoyable."
Once the man was out of hearing range, the Doctor turned to Rose. "Is that? Where'd you get psychic paper?" he demanded in a stage whisper.
Rose gave him a sad smile. "It's yours. Borrowed it when we were at Canary Wharf. I didn't have a chance to give it back before…"
Idiot, he berated himself. "Oh, Rose," he said, taking her hand again. Rose thought she would mind his being so close when she'd done her best to stay away for weeks, but the gesture was familiar and comforting.
"It's funny," she said, suddenly and deliberately changing the topic.
"What's that?"
"A girl named Rose on the Titanic. Get it?" The Doctor's raised eyebrow said he didn't. "Like in the film." She sighed and slapped his shoulder with her free hand.
"Oi! What was that for?" The Doctor sounded indignant. She just smiled at him, and it was the first real Rose-smile he'd seen since they'd left the TARDIS weeks earlier. The familiar smile that was all teeth with a little peek of tongue. His single human heart leapt at the sight. He returned her smile with a mischievous grin and finally released her hand in order to pluck two glasses of champagne off a passing tray.
"This is nice," Rose commented, taking the offered glass. "Actually being a guest for once." She gave the Doctor a wry look before turning to gaze at the planet framed in a large picture window and sipping her champagne. "Does it feel different, being human?"
"Part human," he corrected. "A bit. It's more quiet in my head. My senses don't feel quite as sharp. Emotions are different, closer to the surface. Is it like this all the time?"
Rose twirled her champagne glass between her fingers. "I don't know. I guess so. Does it usually feel like this when you regenerate?"
"Wasn't quite as bad as usual, actually. Despite the human part. There's something to be said for still looking and sounding the same." He looked down at Rose. "I get the feeling this was harder on you than before," he said quietly.
Rose was silent at first, not sure she wanted to have this conversation in the midst of a party. "There are two of you now. And he…" She blinked, forcing the tears away by sheer will. "He left me behind again."
The Doctor cursed himself for bringing it up. Every time he thought things might work out, there it was. His other self. The full Time Lord with a ship and the entire universe at his feet who left them on a beach in bloody Norway. "It was always to keep you safe," he said softly, defending the man who was and wasn't him. Maybe he hadn't been the one to leave Rose in a parallel universe this time, but he'd sent her there once before to try to keep her safe. Even that wasn't the first time he'd sent her away to protect her.
"For somebody who thinks he's so brilliant, you can be awfully thick. How many times would you have died if I hadn't come back?" she demanded, poking him in the chest as her sadness turned to frustration.
The Doctor looked her in the eyes. "I would have died the day we met if it weren't for you, Rose Tyler."
"What, the Daleks?" She thought back to her surprise at seeing a second, identical Doctor stepping out of the TARDIS with Donna aboard the Crucible.
"The shop basement. What was it called, Henry's?"
"Henrik's. You really remember it all?" Rose wasn't quite sure why she doubted it. Even when his appearance and personality changed, he'd still remembered everything.
"Over nine hundred years," he said proudly.
"I remember, too, you know," she said softly after a bit. "The Time Vortex. The Bad Wolf."
The Doctor stared at her wide-eyed. "But I took the memories with the Vortex. You said you didn't remember."
"It started to come back to me around the same time we noticed the stars going out. I had these dreams about the TARDIS and this glowing gold light, and I remembered. I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself." Her words from the Game Station years earlier echoed.
The Doctor shook his head in wonder. "Rose Tyler, the girl who came back. Lucky for me you did." He frowned and shuddered, not intending to say that last part. "Donna bit. It's mostly settled, but now and then part of her rears up to give me a good slap."
Rose smiled again. "I knew I liked her."
"Music!" the Doctor exclaimed abruptly as if he'd just noticed the band playing. "Fancy a spin around the dance floor?" He grabbed her hand, and she barely had time to set her glass down as he pulled her towards the stage.
"I thought you didn't dance." Rose wasn't sure what to expect; in fact, they hadn't danced since, well, since he had looked quite a bit different. There wasn't much time for dancing when they were always running.
"Well, occasionally I make an exception. Why does this feel different?" the Doctor asked as he led her gracefully around the floor.
"You had a different body last time." She smiled fondly as she remembered how different he used to be, and yet in some ways he was very much the same.
"That's right! Comes a little easier to me now."
Rose laughed. "Maybe you were focusing too hard on making Jack jealous last time."
"Jealous of you or me?" He guided her neatly through a turn before pulling her close again.
"Both!" She gave a yelp as the ship lurched and they clung to each other to stay upright. "What was that?"
"Nothing good." He grabbed her hand and ran to a digital photo on the wall of a rather smug looking bald businessman with a gold tooth that twinkled at them as he smiled.
"Who's that?"
"Owner of this ship. Possibly former. And possibly a cyborg." He ran his hands along the photo frame searching for a way to open the panel. "This would be a lot easier with a sonic screwdriver.
Rose reached into her evening bag and pulled out a heavy silver pen. "Will this do?"
The Doctor swiped it from her hand and examined the device for a moment before pushing a button that caused it to emit a humming noise and blue glow. "Sonic pen," he exclaimed delightedly. "Wherever did you get this?"
"Aliens."
"Little baby ones that look like fat marshmallows?"
"How did you?" Rose stopped and pulled herself back to the task at hand. "Shouldn't you open that picture now?"
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Right." The display swung open to reveal wiring for the computer terminal. With a little more help from the sonic pen, the image of the grinning businessman was replaced by a functional display. Rose pulled out her mobile to translate the alien language on the display, but the Doctor appeared to understand it without help.
"No, no, no. Shields are offline. The engines are shutting down. The ship's orbit is decaying."
"We're going to crash," Rose whispered, not wanting to add to the panic already spreading like wildfire across the lounge. "Can you stop it?"
The Doctor looked insulted. "Of course I can stop it. Just need to get back to the bridge." Rose knew nothing was ever as easy as the Doctor made it sound. "Just watch out for the androids," he added.