As Rose opened her eyes, she was first greeted with the giddy hum of the TARDIS. She was then instantly overwhelmed with what she would equate to the worst migraine ever. Just as quickly the lights were dimmed, and the TARDIS hummed apologies for overwhelming her wolf.
"Thanks," Rose said softly, finding her voice raw and throat dry as she sat up slowly. She took in her surroundings: the small, simply room with a single chair and a table beside the bed she was in. She looked down at her rumpled bridesmaid's dress and snorted. He washed her, but he didn't change her?
Slowly, she slid off the bed. Rose's legs wobbled a bit after so long laying down, but after a few steps in her bare feet she managed gain some balance. She reached out to her husband, catching a glimpse of his new face in her mind, noting his vanity carried over. Still, she couldn't complain how he turned out. She knew what he was going to look like, of course, but at the same time she didn't remember him perfectly.
"See that too, do you Sweetheart? Bond opened wide, can see me admiring … I can say…." She heard him in her mind, echoed and faint, breaking up like a cell call with a bad signal. Still just hearing him clearer than she had while she was under made her grin right up until her migraine flared. She clutched her head, nearly falling on her knees with the pain, and the TARDIS hummed soothingly.
"Oi, this isn't pleasant." Rose grumbled as the pain finally eased. "Got to get to him." She said. "Git's likely going to be in trouble."
The TARDIS lightly screeched, and Rose's head throbbed for the effort.
"Fine, okay. No good to him like this, am I? Barely awake, can't go charging out there, can I? Maybe a proper bath, then. Change my clothes." She said, and the TARDIS dimmed the lights a little more in the room, opened the door, then opened the one across the hall with only soft lighting for a path. Rose smiled, patted the wall on the way by, and entered the bedroom that she'd shared with the Doctor for over a century.
Or at least she walked through the door that had been theirs, the room looked similar yet very different.
"What's all this?" Rose asked, and the TARDIS hummed worriedly. "No, no, I love it. Century of the same decor, 's nice to have a change." She reassured with a pat on the wall, only noticing it wasn't that grungy coral she was used to. She heard the water turn on in the en suite, and she moved inside. At least this room looked more or less the same, except she couldn't help but notice the bath tub now had the perfect contours and a cushion to cradle her comfortably as she laid back for a soak. It took absolutely no convincing for Rose to shuck her dress and climb in to the water. Gauged perfectly to her liking, she sunk down in the nearly too warm water.
"It's like climbing into a boiling pot." She could recall her husband complaining about the temperature the one and only time they attempted to bath together with her preference. It was his former voice, as was the image of him perched on the edge of the tub like a cat avoiding climbing in. She could tolerate his lukewarm needs, but it wasn't quite the same.
Breathing deep, she noticed that there was a light scent of banana in the air that was oddly soothing, and fragrant bubbles began to form in the water. She hummed happily, closing her eyes, attempting again to reach out to her husband. The pain lingered, but as long as she didn't try to connect to him it was tolerable.
She felt his glee, the kind that came when facing something he considered a treat, if not a bit dangerous. Not entirely sure what it was, considering she couldn't quite connect, Rose was equal parts excited for him as she was worried. She wanted him in solve what ever problem he was facing, but she wanted him to be careful. There were echoes in his mind, a man and a woman, and she vaguely recalled something about a companion while she was under. His eagerness came back, and she could see in his mind an image of girls with fangs and … fish? Fish with fangs? It was quickly replaced with the TARDIS, and his desire to come for her.
"No. Stay, take care of things." She said out loud, but as she tried to send the words, her heard ached to the point of seeing spots. She thought that maybe he at least got the sentiment as his focused turned back to the thought of companions and fish women with fangs.
Well, not that she really understood what that was about, but there wasn't much she could do. Her arm, she realized once the pain in her mind receded, ached as well. The hot water seemed to ease her muscles as it enveloped her, and she was beginning to understand that she really wasn't going to be physically able keep up with the Doctor for a day or so.
Periodically she would open her bond a touch to try and listen in where his was open.
"Someone … inside." A female voice said, much more faint than the Doctor's.
"No." Her husband's voice was a bit louder. "We pretend you're an applicant … tonight … trap door … let us in. Rose would have … same thing."
"Wouldn't let her … insane." A man's voice, faint like the woman's.
"Wrong, Rory. Let Rose do it … Rose is special. I wouldn't have to worry …."
"But she's not here … another option." The woman said again.
She could feel her husband's reluctance, and she tried to remind him that she would do dangerous things. She tried to remind him that sometimes there was no other choice, and just as she half thought about climbing out of the tub and finding him the TARDIS screeched a warning. Her head ached with the sound, paired with the effort of trying to talk to the Doctor, and she thought better of it.
The TARDIS, smug thing that she could be, hummed something that made Rose think she if she had a chin she'd have lifted it with a sense of superiority.
"Hush you," She grinned at the ceiling.
She closed her eyes, rested her head against the provided cushion, and allowed the TARDIS to sing in her mind.
Rose didn't know how long she was in there for, what with the water never getting cold and the bubbles never dissipating. She was pretty sure she'd drifted off, her head feeling mildly better for it, and the mild ache in her arm gone. Still, she didn't move, not right away. Testing the connection with the Doctor, she entered his mind just a bit more than before.
He took a metaphorical step into hers as well, sharing with her all that had happened already. It was a bit much, but did not bring the splitting headache it had before.
"Any ideas, Sweetheart?" He asked in her mind.
Well, they were fish people. Would make perfect sense that they would need water. Venice did have it in plenty.
"They have lots of water, whole planet is made of it." He replied.
So why would someone leave their planet if it was still habitable?
Her stomach growled in the same instant, the phantom taste of chips with vinegar and salt hitting her tongue and making her mouth water. His laughter in her mind made her heart clench and her cheeks flush.
"If you mean food, I suppose that could be it." He said, and she realized that her thought of chips was what went through to him. Well, let him think she was being clever, best he not know it was an accident. "They are piranhas for lack of better word. But why here?"
"You'll figure it out." She said, though she didn't send the words to him, merely the sentiment behind them.
"We'll figure it out." He said, having no idea that he spoke nearly the same words.
We. How badly did she wish she could be there with him? She should be there with him, especially now that she was feeling a bit better.
"We, Rose, always we. You're always with me." He reminded her, and it eased the guilt a bit.
His distraction startled her, making her body jerk and slosh water over the side of the tub.
"Sorry, Darling," Rose said immediately before the TARDIS could grumble. Without a sound, the water was gone as if it hadn't been there at all.
Rose listened, easing her mind back as the Doctor exchanged words with this Signora woman. The head fish vampire lady, if she assumed correctly. She sensed his discomfort on some topics, and would ease him as best she could without intruding. Not easy, especially with the implication from this thing he was talking to that he should be dead.
But then this woman said something that caught her attention.
Someone was out in the universe trying to raise an army against someone powerful, and stopped at nothing to make sure those who turned her away would suffer. Someone simply known as She. Well, that was a weird thing to go by. Why not some sort of dark, twisty name? She could have called herself Mistress, or Dame, or something other than She.
The TARDIS hummed a warning as Rose started climbing out of the tub with purpose, but she ignored it.
Toweling off, Rose started to think of the library, what legends she might find there that might give identity to either this woman or the entity she was rising up against.
Rage and indignation hit her through her bond, and Rose reached out despite the sharp pain to see what was happening with her husband. The Doctor, she sensed, was being threatened but was in no real danger. Hairs on her arms raised, and her teeth ground as she tried to take deep breaths and stop herself from doing something stupid like charge after him in nothing but a towel. His calm helped her, and eventually she managed to ease back from him as well as her protective instincts to finish drying.
When she re-entered the bedroom, she found a pair of trousers and comfortable jumper laid out for her.
"You're sucking up all of a sudden." Rose teased the TARDIS. She said nothing back as Rose gathered under garments and dressed. As she did, her stomach growled again in protest. "Right, nibble and tea, then the library I think." She said, straightening her shirt and stepping out the door. She was instantly across from the galley. "What're you up to? What don't you want me to see?" Rose asked, narrowing her eyes at the ceiling. She realized after a beat that it was different. Not terribly, but enough to note. She looked down, seeing the floors now had glass over the grating. "You changed!" She said suddenly, whipping her head toward the ceiling. "'S what you don't want me to see, you changed when he did, yeah?" The TARDIS hummed in confirmation. "Well, let's see, then." Rose turned away from the galley, immediately heading toward the console room.
She moved through the corridors, noting that it seemed to take longer than normal to get to her destination.
When she emerged from the corridor she gasped, taking in the orange hues and the glass floor. She moved slowly down the stairs, peeking down to the lower level but not really seeing much of it. Rose moved to the console, running her fingers along the edge as she took in the changes there as well. The TARDIS filled in her mind with the subtle differences as she looked at the new controls, and she grinned.
"Blimey, you are stunning, you know?" Rose said to the ceiling, smiling with her tongue peeking out. The room brightened, and the TARDIS hummed happily. "What brought this on?" The TARDIS showed her how the Doctor's regeneration energy exploded. "Damaged you too, did he?" She asked, chuckling in her chest when the TARDIS grumbled in affirmation. "He didn't mean to hurt either of us." She reassured with a rub of the time rotor. It bobbed as if the ship were nodding.
Rose took one more lap of the new console room before she left and headed for the galley as she was originally intending. Inside, she found everything she needed to whip up a quick batch of chips all laid out for her and ready to go. As she tossed the sticks of potato into the frying basket, her mind turned to tea. Not the best combination, but she craved both desperately. Lowering the basket in the fryer, she went about filling the kettle with water.
Her mind wandered to the Doctor, feeling his moving miles a minute that even her fast thinking couldn't keep up with. She set the filled kettle on the stove as the thoughts, "Rude and Ginger." came through from him.
"Oi, don't be rude yourself." She snapped, but felt as though she wasn't really getting the words through.
The kettle whistled, calling for attention.
"Help that along, did you?"She asked out loud, and the TARDIS hummed eagerly. Still some time on the chips before they were ready, so Rose made her tea to sip while she waited.
Inhaling the scent of the beverage, she felt her mind tingling. It made her shudder from the strangeness, as well as eager for her first sip.
As soon as the liquid hit her tongue, her head ached but in a pleasant way. It was as if things that weren't quite aligned were falling back into place.
"Super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannin, best cure for regeneration sickness." She took another sip. "That what's wrong with me?" She asked thoughtfully. To her surprise, she got the sense that the TARDIS didn't know.
With a shrug, Rose took another sip, finished cooking and preparing her chips, then took the newspaper lined basket with her to the library.
Setting the chips on the table, she made her way up to the history of the universe section. The TARDIS led her to the books on legends, which Rose would have assumed someone that was as powerful sounding as whomever this She was hunting had to have become in the end.
Bringing an arm full back down, she plopped down on the floor with her back against the sofa. Books at her side, she took the one off the top and opened it, bending her legs to prop the book up in her lap.
"She's got ten thousand children swimming in the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriend." The Doctor's thoughts came through to her just as she was about to stick a chip in her mouth. "I mean, I've been around a bit but that's …."
"Hey, you!" She cried as she imagined herself slapping him as hard as she could. "Do not try and be all impressive with things like that!"
"You know this already, it's hardly news!" He replied to her outburst, and she knew for certain her words didn't get through to him.
"Not the point." She mumbled, chomping down on a chip and turning her attention to the book in front of her. She began to skim, which she had momentarily forgot was much faster than a normal human could and retain the knowledge. Nothing on a She at all in this one. Setting it aside, she paused to eat a few more chips before moving on to the next book.
She opened it up, and realized that the crease she was seeing wasn't really from the pages but from breasts. And not hers.
"Oi, watch where those eyes of yours are pointing." She yelled at the Doctor, and the TARDIS hummed in laughter that made Rose glare at the ceiling with a grin. "Glad you think that's funny." She said to the time ship.
"Yes, Sweetheart," Her smile fell as she realized that the Doctor had heard her. His surprise and joy came through, but the flood of it all paired with her first successful attempt at talking to him was like someone poking at a fresh wound. The irritation made Rose's headache come back, and she hurriedly pulled back a bit while reaching for her tea.
Gulping it back, she felt her mind sort itself out as the tea entered her system. She shuddered again, her ears nearly ringing with the strangeness of it all.
No, not from the way her mind was healing, there was an explosion near the Doctor. Her ears weren't ringing, his were. She sensed his heavy guilt, and knew that whatever was going on someone just sacrificed themselves so her husband and his companions could get one step closer to stopping the fish vampires.
"My fault." She mumbled, knowing that if she hadn't stayed in the TARDIS, whoever died would have survived. She could have done what ever had to have been done.
"No, no, not your fault." He reassured her quickly, and she smiled weakly. "Rest, Rose. Heal. Please." He asked, and she drew back so she could allow the tea to do just that.
Opening her eyes, she spotted the tea tray on the table, pot with steam coming out the spout, cream and sugar sitting beside it.
"You take such good care of us," She rubbed the floor. "Need to do something nice for you, too."
The TARDIS gave a sort of hummed scoff that made Rose chuckle as she leaned forward and fixed another cup of tea. She read while she sipped, trying to find something on this She that might give her a hint of some kind.
The third book in the stack she'd collected at random was one she'd known was in the library but never sought out: The History of the Time War.
Gingerly picking it up, she opened it carefully. Her Gallifreyan was beginners at best, and her head ached trying to translate it all and have it make sense. Sometimes the TARDIS would help her with it since she bonded with the Doctor, as if it became an unspoken acknowledgment that she was now permitted to know what all his little notes said, or read the works of his people. She could speak it only slightly better, Jenny having a far better grasp on both aspects thanks to the Time Lord in her make-up. So while her daughter could have picked up the book and read through it without much effort and only few questions to her father, Rose felt pressure forming behind her eyes with the effort.
She closed the book and her eyes with a huff, breathing deep and settling her stomach before draining her tea.
When the nausea passed, she opened her eyes and fixed her next cup.
"Going to have to put this off for a bit." She realized, her head still tingling lightly. She sensed her husband closing off, and frowned. "Maybe I should go wait for him. Seems like he might need me soon, yeah?" She said more to herself, though the TARDIS still agreed. Getting up, Rose noted the books, tea tray, and empty chip basket disappeared by the time she got to her feet. "Don't have to clean up after me, ya know." She teased the time ship as she left the library with her cup of tea still in hand.
The console room was, thankfully, not too far away from the library this go around, and she entered the bright, cheerful room and plopped down on the bigger of the two jumpseats. She tucked her feet under her, leaned against the backrest, and closed her eyes while she drank her tea. Her headache was finally barely more than a memory, and she set her mug down on the floor by the seat.
When she heard the door partly open, she startled, sitting up straight and whipping her head around to glimpse her husband for what was essentially the first time since his regeneration.
A ginger woman partly stepped inside, but didn't enter.
"Hey, look at this." She said with a very Scottish accent. "Got my spaceship, got my boys."
"Oi, your space ship?" Rose blurted out. Who the hell was this woman and what right did she think she had to call the TARDIS hers? And what did she mean by her boys? The TARDIS hummed a bit of a giggle, making no move to calm the wolf who glared at the head of red hair before it was pushed ungracefully out of the way by a tall, lanky man. He darted up the ramp, pausing at the top, staring.
The Doctor, her husband, the man she loved more than anything, gapped at her like he wasn't sure she was real.
"Have a whole new level of understanding 'bout everything you go through when ya change. Let's try not to go through it again anytime soon, yeah?" She teased a bit as he moved toward her.
He dropped to his knees and reached for her, and his cool touch was a balm to the lingering pain in her mind. Skin to skin contact re-calibrating their bond, the ache of reaching for him mentally gone, the pleasure of it all made her sigh his name, and while not spoken it still felt as though it had been. The mental caress of the chiming language she barely began to learn left a phantom sensation on her lips and tongue that was brushed away with his own as he crashed his mouth on to hers.
"Can't completely feel you in my head," He murmured against her mouth before placing delicate kisses along her cheek and neck. He then buried his nose in her hair as his other arm came around her, holding her as he breathed her in.
"Mine still hurts," She said as her hand slipped into his hair. Soft, longer than she was used to, but nothing she couldn't adjust to quickly. "Don't want you to feel it." She said as she lightly grazed her fingers against his scalp.
"I do," The Doctor said as he pulled back to press his forehead to hers, his floppy hair tickled just above her eyebrows. "I caused you that pain, I should feel it. All of it."
She shook her head, chuckling in her chest at his unchanging self deprecation before she used her hand in his hair to hold him still so she could kiss him. Different lips, a little fuller, mouth a bit wider, but the taste was the same and that was all that mattered. Well, that and how the Doctor melted into her like it was his life that depended on hers.
"Hate to break up the party, but we're waiting to go somewhere." That Scottish voice that declared the TARDIS hers pulled the Doctor away from the kiss.
Rose looked around him to see the red head staring at him coldly, arms crossed and tangling in her scarf. Her skirt was way too short to be practical for anything, and were those bloody fishnet stockings she was wearing? The TARDIS sent her an image of her self over a hundred years ago wearing a similar outfit.
An outfit she distinctly remembered wearing for the express purpose of possibly getting a rise out of the Doctor when he knew Mickey was coming to see them, and she certainly hadn't paired it with fishnets. She was also pretty sure her skirt was a bit longer.
Rose's eyes then flickered over to the man not far behind the redhead who looked utterly exasperated. Beneath his vest on a red shirt was a black and white image of he and the ginger within a heart. He leaned against the console, crossing his arms and looking to the ceiling.
"Right you are, Pond!" The Doctor exclaimed, getting up to his feet and whipping at his face before reaching down for Rose's hand in the same move. She took it, and he eased her to her feet. The Doctor met Rose's eye, grin spreading wide. "What do you say, Sweetheart? Where should we go? I tried Venice for romance, but it turned out, well, not."
"Romance?" Rose arched a brow.
"Yes, for them. Wedding present. Well, sort of wedding present. A date, as it were. So what do you say? A place with no running, where should we go?"
She grinned, moving to the console, and popped in some coordinates. He peeked over her shoulder, hand on her back. "How's that?" She asked, turning up to see him.
His smile was so warm and reverent it nearly made her catch her breath. A hundred years with the man, and it was like she was falling in love with him all over again.
He broke away, danced around to console before returning to the dematerilization switch. "Geronimo." He said before throwing it.
Geronimo?
Alright, so quirks happen.
When the TARDIS landed with a shudder no one moved.
The red head was still glaring at her and the Doctor, and the man was leaning against the rail, staring at the floor.
"Right, proper introductions." The Doctor said behind her before darting around and standing between she and the ginger. "Rose, this is Amy Pond and Rory …." The Doctor gestured to each of them, hands clasping together as a look of guilt washed over him.
"Williams." Rory spat out.
"Williams, yes. Rory Williams. They're a couple. About to get married."
"Until she ran away with your husband."
"Until she ran away with me, yes. Mistake that."
"Oi," Amy said indignantly. "You invited me."
"Before I knew what you were leaving." He said quickly, turning his guilty expression on Rose.
"Right." Rose said, unsure exactly how to break the very strong tension around them. She chewed her lip a moment before she chose to look to Rory. "Probably don't want to be running around in that forever. Wardrobe, so long as it hasn't moved, should be up those stairs there." She pointed, and Rory nodded before following her instructions.
"Go on, Pond." The Doctor encouraged.
Amy glanced between them, looking nervously at the Doctor and glaring at Rose. She rolled her eyes, turning away and giving them space. She listened, but neither the Doctor nor Amy said anything before Rose heard Amy retreat in the same direction as Rory.
"She kissed me." The Doctor said, and Rose tensed up. "Or tried, more like it."
"So you're telling me the first lips those lips touched weren't mine?" She said without masking her bitterness.
He came toward her, hands smoothing over her waist as his presence radiated against her back. "No," He said in her ear before kissing the spot just behind it. "I kissed yours, kissed you every chance I got. You were the first person these eyes saw, first kiss for these lips, first skin these hands touched. Please don't be jealous of Amy."
"I'm not …."
"Rose." He said teasingly. "Hundred years, Sweetheart. Bond or not, I know that look."
She huffed, turned, and glared. "So why's she still here, then? Rory wasn't here when it happened, yeah? So why bring him instead of leavin' her?"
He glanced away to the stairs the couple disappeared down. "Time Lines." He said, then raised his hands and hovered them near her temples. "Can I show you?"
Rose shook her head. "Best not. Still got a bit of an ache right now. Even the TARDIS showing me things sorta hurts."
His shoulders dropped as his hands flopped to his side. A disappointed sigh escaped his lips as he turned and leaned against the console. He gripped the edge, but held her eye as he spoke. "Amy and Rory, they are important. Time is shifting, becoming unsteady, and it's all because Amy chose to run. Same time she needed to, had to. But so long as she has Rory with her it looks like they'll still come together as they should. Leaving her behind was leaving it to chance. And besides, you know what it's like, one person seeing all the splendor of the universe never works out in the end. Look at you and Mickey."
Rose, despite herself, laughed. Yes, time lines were very important, terribly so. She'd seen the Doctor choose to stay or run because of them for a century, and she could never resent him for the decision. But she had planned to continue giving him a bit of a cold shoulder for allowing what ever he had to make Amy think she had a right to kiss him.
"Think you had more to do with that than the splendor." She teased, placing her hands on his chest and sliding them beneath his jacket. When she felt the suspenders she curled her fingers around them, bringing him a little closer. The smirk and darkened look he gave her made her like the accessory more than she planned to. "Sights were nice, but it was always your handsome features and impressive mind that drew me in." She said as she studied the new face before her. "You have the same facial structure as you did then." She noted. "More hair. Nose not quite so majestic."
"Majestic was it?" He asked and she giggled.
"Chin makes up for the difference."
"Oi," he said and she was laughing harder.
"Saying you're handsome, ya git." She playfully smacked him before resting her hand on his shoulder.
"I pass inspection, Missus Tyler?" He said, stepping back and out of her hold with his arms out to the side.
"Dunno, haven't seen what's underneath yet." She bit her tongue as he blushed, the color traveling down to his cheeks once his ears couldn't turn any redder.
He cleared his throat, hands moving for his collar. "And what do you think of the bow tie? Is it cool?" He asked as he straightened it.
"Might be," She teased. Before she could blink he was picking her up, spinning her around as she yelped and giggled. "What ya doin'?"
"Just immensely happy you're with me again. Even if we can't fully use the bond at the moment." He said as he set her down. He kissed her quickly before darting quickly away to the door, and she noticed he stumbled twice on the ramp but recovered with a gangly sorta grace. She swallowed back her laugh, covering her smirk behind her hand as she glanced to the stairway leading to the wardrobe.
Amy and Rory emerged, and while the latter made eye contact and gave a bit of a smile, the former marched right over to the Doctor. She clutched at his arm. "So where are we?" She asked.
He glanced over to Rose. "Go out and take a look," he said, and Amy bounced on her feet before darting out the doors.
Rory sighed, looked like he wanted to shake his head, maybe growl a bit, but moved down the ramp. He'd changed out of the long sleeved declaration of his relationship with the ginger that darted ahead without so much as a word to him.
"How're those time lines looking?" Rose asked as she started to follow outside.
"Surprisingly on course." The Doctor sighed. As she came up beside him, his hand fell into hers.
It fit just perfectly, and she sighed contentedly as she vaguely remembered having already known it would happen. And he sighed, a wave of contentment coming through from him as they stepped out after their companions as one. Like they always had.
A/N: Not only do I have to say a big thank you to those who support the story through reading, favoriting, and following, but also thank you for all the understanding and well wishes. Your patience for the slightly less frequent updates has been helpful in ways I can't explain. Hopefully there won't be any more delays.
To the reviewers, thanks for leaving word! LaughingLadyBug, Dreamcatcher56, WaitingformyDoctorintheTardis, micbb, Cupcakeflake, hotsasukefan, DuShuZhi, greeneyesCutie, PanoramaGirl, TimeLadyHope, RachaeltheSylph, annabethfan15, princessgumdrop16, Eagle Hawke, JuLLiA, TheDoctorMulder, Antisocial Me (Yep, no Silence, on Her), Sommerlee, Shadow Eclipse, pyro-pixiechik, Guest, Ryann Bennett, Insane-Bookworm-4ever, TheKitchenMistress, debygoebel, Loca8892, tscheby, Reena Catheryn, and dannicabbage83.
Thank you to all of you for leaving words.
So now we have Rose, and this is where you guys are going to notice episodes going away. Changes will be happening.
Until next post.