"I was looking for a breath of a life, For a little touch of heavenly light, But all the choirs in my head sang no oh oh oh. To get a dream of life again, A little vision of the start and the end." - Florence +the Machine
"So there we are, old hospital, surrounded by gas mask Zombies, nowhere to go, no way to escape, so I yell 'go to your room.'" The Doctor said animatedly, doing a really impressive impression of his Northern voice. He was moving around the medbay, circling the table Rose sat on while Rory examined her broken ribs.
He asked, because he'd had so little to do in the way of his medical education and didn't want to lose any of it. So the nurse played doctor of sorts, checking on the last of Rose's injuries to ensure they were healed.
So while he checked on Rose, her husband was telling stories of their older, pre-married adventures on Amy's request while she waited in the doorway.
"Go to your room?" Amy asked.
"Yes. You see, the leader of the gas mask zombies was a five year old boy looking for his mummy. So I just put on my best Dad voice, told him how crossed I was, and sent him to his room." He finished with a proud smile.
"Is that really what happened?" Rory asked Rose conspiratorially.
"Yeah," Rose replied. "'Cept then we went to his room. Then the Doctor replaced Jack's gun with a banana. Really just to mess with him."
"I thought he was taking you away from me, had to make myself look impressive." The Doctor said with a bit of pride, straightening his bow tie.
"And you did that with a banana?" Amy asked with a twitch of her eyebrow and a coy grin.
The Doctor looked ready to say something then considered what Amy was implying. His ears and cheeks turned red. "Wasn't exactly what I was meaning with it."
"Says the man who then used the word 'dance' in place of something a bit more blunt." Rose countered, grinning with her tongue between her teeth.
"And then we did dance." The Doctor said dreamily. "Actually dancing, not dancing-dancing. All around the console. In the Mood, first song I could properly get my feet to move to. Easy after that."
"So this was pre-married you?" Amy asked. "So did all that dancing lead to something a bit more? Like dancing perhaps?"
"No," The Doctor said, shaking his head. "Came close, though, at that last song. If it hadn't been for Jack…."
"How's my ribs looking?" Rose changed the subject, turning to Rory.
"Healed." He said. "Vitals are fine, I didn't even see any residual bruising. Three days and you're alright."
"Thought as much," Rose said, hopping off the exam table. "So, where should we go, then?"
"I'm not sure," The Doctor said as the four of them exited the medbay, the door being moved close enough to the console room that it was practically just off of it. The Doctor moved to the console, did a bit of a spin as he looked at the coordinate panel. "We could go to Barcelona. The planet, not the city. Dogs with no noses. And no, Sweetheart, before you even start we are not getting a dog."
Rose struggled not to smile as she went to her spot at the console.
Before she and the Doctor could start inputting the coordinates, the TARDIS gave a surprised hum, and then there was a knock on the door.
Everyone in the room looked at one another in confusion, more so when the knock sounded again.
"Umm," Rose said, looking at the monitor, seeing the empty space outside. "Sure we didn't somehow pick up Jack?"
"No, nowhere near Jack. Would know if we were." The Doctor said as he went to the door.
"We are in deep space." Rory said as he gestured to the monitor.
"Very, very deep." The Doctor agreed. He opened the door just a tiny bit, and Rose was hit with a spike of surprise and excitement. "Oh come here. Come here, you scrumptious little beauty."
"Never hear him talk about you like that." Amy said thoughtfully as she plopped down in a jumpseat.
"Probably for the best." Rose shrugged, hearing the TARDIS hum a bit of a chuckle. "So what was …?" Rose never finished her question before a little box zoomed into the room, around her head, and then back to the Doctor as he closed the door. He caught it, miraculously, and smiled down at it.
"Mail. We've got mail, Sweetheart." He said as he moved to the console. "Time Lord emergency messaging system. In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in a psychic container and send it through time and space."
"So … it might be an old message, yeah?" She said gently. "Just sorta got lost? Floated until a TARDIS came by? Been drifting for a bit, we've been."
"Possibly," He said as he focused on the box, closing his eyes. Rose could hear a strange voice in her mind, echoed as if hearing someone else's phone call. It was a male voice, deep, sort of posh. He was asking for help, but it was as if he wasn't sure how to describe what was happening. Something about TARDIS simply dying, and not being able to return to Gallifrey.
"Oh!" The Doctor's eyes lit up. "Oh, that is … oh, we need to get to him." The Doctor said, holding the cube in one hand while doing something on the monitor and typewriter with the other.
"Him?" Rose asked.
"Yes. Corsair. Know it's him by this mark, see?" He asked, showing it to Rose and their companions. "That snake is his mark, got it every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself without the tattoo." He grinned. "Or herself a couple of times."
"Oh?" Rose crossed her arms. "Sense a school boy crush I didn't know about."
"She was a rather bad girl." He smirked, then sobered. "But mostly a good friend." Rose merely shook her head and went to help fly their ship when he stopped her. "Actually, best I do this myself?"
"That so?" Rose asked, straightening up to her full height and crossing her arms. "Don't want your good friend to find out your human bond mate can fly the TARDIS?"
"Yes. No. No!" He insisted. "It's that Corsair isn't in this universe, but outside it. In a … pocket universe."
"Thought we couldn't travel between universes?" She challenged.
"Well, we can, but …."
"So all these years we coulda gone an' seen my Mum? Pete? Tony? Coulda seen my lil' brother grow up, meet his kids. Let Mum and Pete get to know Jenny more?"
"Umm." The Doctor replied.
"I sense someone will be sleeping in the library tonight." Rory mock whispered to Amy who giggled.
"Don't need to sleep." The Doctor said to him before looking to Rose. "Pocket, not parallel. We aren't going to find duplicate Amys or Rorys there, it's a Universe just outside this one. Nothing's the same. Rose, believe me, if I thought there was a way for you to see your mother and brother again I wouldn't have hesitated."
He held her eye, and she could hear faint whispers of his begging her understanding in her mind. She nodded, and Rose was flooded with relief.
"Now," He said, setting the cube down and throwing the dematerialization switch. "Got to get rid of a few rooms. Not overly attached to the scullery, I hope? Or the swimming pool. Or the squash court."
"Bit fond of the scullery, actually." Rose countered.
"Ah, we'll get it back when we get back. Just burning up rooms to give us some extra welly!" He said before flicked a few more switches.
The TARDIS hummed about in surprise as the console sparked, the whole ship shaking and rocking about. Amy clung to the jumpseat, Rory falling against the rail next to her. Rose grabbed on to the edge of the console and held on like she hadn't in years. All the while the Doctor's hope flared, his excitement nearly enough to drown out her worry. He watched the time rotor bob with the glee of a child, and all the while not seeming to pick up on their ship's discomfort.
When they landed, it was with a jolt reminding Rose of those early years she and the Doctor talked about earlier. She barely kept upright as the two men fell to the floor and Amy nearly off the jumpseat.
"Okay, where are we?" Amy asked, fixing her hair before standing up.
"Outside the universe, where we've never, ever been before." The Doctor said as she pulled himself up, eyes wide and grin stretching.
It lasted only seconds, then the TARDIS started powering down. More than that, though, Rose felt her presence leave her mind. There was shock, and then nothing as all the systems completely went off line, and the only other living soul touching hers was the Doctor.
"Is that meant to be happening?" Rory asked as Rose and the Doctor exchanged worried glances.
"No, 's not." Rose replied. "Only other time 's ever happened before was the one and only time we wound up in a parallel world, and that was by accident." She explained as the Doctor darted around the console in a panic. "He got it back up, then, but took some time."
"It's not possible." The Doctor exclaimed, and they all looked to him as he stood flabbergasted, staring at the darkened router. "It's as if the matrix, the soul of the TARDIS just vanished." He looked to Rose then. "Can you …?" She shook her head. "Where would it go?"
"Sorry, the soul?" Amy asked as she crossed the room to where the Doctor was.
"Yes, living thing, remember? Sentient. When Rose went all …."
"Bad Wolf?" Amy supplied.
"Yes, when she went all … wolfy, it was her and the TARDIS as one. She took in the heart. What kept the TARDIS functioning was its soul."
"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" Rory asked.
The Doctor looked at him with that same "stupid ape" expression he used to have all that time ago. "Sentient time ship, Rory. There are creatures in the universe with no hearts, no brains, that are nothing more then moving goo, and you're want to assume the logistics of how a ship would live? Yes, Rose took in the heart, the soul is what keeps it living." He then turned and headed down the ramp.
"Testy much?" Rory commented as he, Rose, and Amy when to join the Doctor outside.
"Forgive him. He thinks he may have found another Time Lord and then our ship breaks down quite similar to how it did all that time ago. He may not be himself for the next bit." Rose apologized on her husband's behalf as they stepped out of the ship.
Her nose wrinkled immediately at the smell.
"So what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Amy asked, her nose curling at the smell as well. She placed a hand lightly on her stomach, mid-point, and gave it the tiniest bit of a rub.
"He was in a bind, a bit of a pickle, sort of distressed." The Doctor rambled.
Amy turned to Rose. "Doesn't know, does he?"
"Likely not. Message was a bit cryptic." Rose replied.
"Where are we?" Rory asked as he looked around. "The scrap yard at the end of the Universe?"
He wasn't wrong there, of course. They were surrounded by broken ships, some with parts that looked eerily familiar. She couldn't put her finger on why.
"Not the end of, outside of." The Doctor replied with a bit of announce.
"Right, so, like a parallel one, but … not." He nodded. "Okay, think I understand, maybe."
"Upside, this place is full of rift energy." The Doctor said, licking his finger and sticking in the air like he was testing the wind. "She'll probably refuel just by being here."
"Yes, but that won't help if we don't get the matrix back." Rose reminded him.
"No, you're right. You're positively right. But first we should set out to find out what sorta mess Corsair's in. Now, what do we think of this place, eh?" He asked, bending down and grabbing a handful of dirt. "Gravity's almost Earth-normal, air's breathable, but smells like…"
"Ood," Rose said at the same time Amy said "Arm pits."
"Both are accurate." The Doctor agreed with a nod.
"Thief! Wolf!" A pretty woman yelled as she ran around the corner. Her dress looked like it had seen better days, though the blue it once was likely was lovely. Her hair was partially pinned up, but it looked matted pretty badly. Yet she smiled the brightest smile Rose had seen on anyone in a long time as she came barreling toward her and the Doctor with great enthusiasm. "You're my thief and my wolf!"
"She's dangerous, guard yourselves." A deformed looking woman said as she and an equally deformed looking man hobbled behind the quick moving woman.
"Look at you!" The pretty one said as she looked over the Doctor before giving him a very thorough kiss. Rose didn't even have a chance to protest before the woman sprung a kiss on her as well. There was an oddly familiar taste there. One that she had known for hundreds of years, and it made her tense more than the surprise of the snog itself. "And you!" The woman said as she reverently petted Rose's hair. "You're so much different than what I thought you looked like. Less pink. Still, a sight. Goodbye! No, not goodbye. What's the other one?"
"Watch out!" The man said. "Careful, keep back from her!"
"She's harmless." Rose countered.
"She's mad. We do apologize for that." The man said as he yanked the woman away. He attempted to touch Rose, maybe pat her, but she flinched away before he could. "Welcome, strangers." He said, turning to the Doctor who was more focused on the woman deemed mad.
"Why am I a thief? What have I stolen?" He asked, creeping slightly closer to her.
"Me." She replied confidently. "You're going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing me? Tenses are difficult, aren't they?" She asked Rose.
"Can be, yeah." Rose offered her a gentle smile.
"Oh we are sorry, my dove. She's off her head." The deformed woman said mostly to the Doctor. "They call me Auntie." She said as she shook the Doctor's hand. Whether she noted the way he brushed his hand against his trousers afterward or not, Rose didn't know.
"I'm Uncle. I'm everybody's uncle." He said as if it would warm them all to him. "Just keep back from this one, she bites." He said, throwing a thumb in the woman's direction.
"Do I? Excellent!" She exclaimed before darting to the Doctor.
"Ow! No!" He replied, pushing her off his neck just as Rose was about to gently remove her herself.
"Oh, biting's Excellent! It's like kissing, only there's a winner. Now I know why you do it so often when you do the messy thing with all the shouting and no clothes."
Rose stared at her, the completely innocent look in the woman's eyes making it that much worse.
"Did she just …?" Rose reached out to her husband through their bond.
"How did she know?" He retorted, and Rose spared a glance at his stunned expression.
"Sorry," Uncle said awkwardly. "She's a doolally."
"That was a lot more about them then I needed to know." Rose heard Rory say to Amy, and she blushed fiercely but couldn't manage to hide her face.
"I'm not a doolally. I'm …." The woman wrinkled her brow in thought. "I'm …. It's on the tip of my tongue." Her eyes went wide. "I've just had a new idea about kissing!" She said, turning to Rose and lunging for her.
"Oi! Only I get to do that." The Doctor said, pulling her away.
"Idris, no, no." Auntie said, scolding her like she was a young child.
"Oh, but you're angry now." Idris said as she looked at the Doctor with great affection while she was still partly in his arms.
He was confused, of course. Rose was certain they all were. But that wasn't what fascinated her.
There was another woman in her husband's arms, looking at him with a sort of love that would normally bring out the green eyed monster in Rose. Yet she felt absolutely nothing toward this woman except … well, affection. It was almost as if here was a part of Rose that felt Idris belonged exactly where she was: with the Doctor.
"Why am I angry?" He asked her.
"No, you're not. You will be angry," She replied. "The little boxes will make you angry."
"What little boxes?" The Doctor asked cautiously.
Idris turned to Rose, moving out of the Doctor's arms. "You'll know it when you smell it." She said. Idris then turned to Rory. "It means the smell of dust after rain."
"What does?" He asked.
"Petrichor."
"But I didn't ask." He countered.
"Not yet, but you will."
"No, Idris." Auntie said, jumping to them, taking Idris's hand and trying to guide her away. "I think you should have a rest."
"Yes, yes, good idea!" Idris eagerly agreed. "I'll just see if there's an off switch." And then she started to drop.
The Doctor ran and caught her, placing her in a nearby chair while Rory darted over to check on her as well.
"Is that it? She dead now, so sad." Uncle said with no emotion. Rose looked at him, at Auntie, saw no remorse at all in them.
"She's still breathing." Rory noted.
It's possible no one else caught the heavy, annoyed sigh Uncle gave before turning slightly to call behind him. "Nephew, take Idris somewhere she can't bite people." He instructed.
Around the corner came an Ood, which wouldn't have bothered Rose terribly if it weren't for the green, glowing eyes.
"Oh, hello!" The Doctor greeted warmly while Amy and Rory jumped back.
"Doctor, what is that?" Amy asked.
"It's alright," He reassured. "It's an Ood! Oods are good, love an Ood."
"I'm more mixed." Rose said to them, ignoring her husband indignant pout before he turned back to the Ood.
"Hello, Ood. Can you talk?" The Doctor asked as he approached the Ood. He looked at the translator ball, and Rose had only just realized it wasn't glowing. "Oh, I see. It's damaged. May I?" He asked, gesturing to the ball. The Ood nodded, and the Doctor opened it up. "Might just be on the wrong frequency."
"Nephew was broken when he came here. Why he was half dead." Auntie said, gesturing to the Ood while standing half hunched over. "House repaired him. House repaired all of us."
Rose ignored her for now, glancing down at Idris to make sure she seemed okay. Her breathing was gentle, but steady.
A loud, mess of voiced cracked through the silence, and Rose looked toward the Ood and her husband. The Doctor was suddenly flooding her with a tidal wave of hope, fear, excitement, nervousness, and shock as he backed away from the Ood.
"If you are receiving this message," One male voice came in clear. "Please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of Time Lords on Gallifrey. Help! I'm still alive …."
Rose's stomach lurched at the thought.
The Ood did something to his translator, and the voices, along with that very distinct one, was gone.
"What was that?" Rory asked. "Was that him?" He asked, pointing to the Ood.
"No, no, it's picking up something else." The Doctor replied, walking around in a state of shock. "But that's … not possible. That's …." He darted over to Auntie and Uncle. "Who else is here? Tell me. Show me!"
"Just what you see." Auntie gestured around them. "It's just the four of us, and the House." She looked to the Ood. "Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?"
"I'll stay with her," Rose said immediately, focusing only on the bewildered expressions of the Doctor, Amy, and Rory.
"Rose … I think … I want you with me." The Doctor hesitated as the Ood came by and began to collect Idris.
"I will be." Rose said. "Just think there's something more going on with Idris then bein' a bit loony." She added through the bond, reminding him that no matter the physical distance, so long as they were in the same time, same universe, they'd be connected.
The Doctor nodded, and Rose moved to follow the Ood.
"What's the House?" She heard the Doctor ask as she walked away.
"House is all around you, my sweets. You are standing on him."
It was the last bit of the conversation Rose heard before she followed the Ood into a cave where it looked like the whole thing could collapse in a moment. There was a cage, too fancy to have been a proper prison, likely a decorative grill from a ship in the scrap yard. The Ood placed Idris gently in it then locked the door. He nodded to Rose, then moved down the corridor and out of the cavern.
Rose said on the floor, watching Idris as she slept.
"Who are you?" Rose asked, leaning her head against the grill.
"I'm … I'm …." Idris said, her eyes still closed until they weren't. She bolted up. "Big word, sad word. Why is that word so sad? No! Will be sad."
"What word?" Rose asked.
Idris turned and looked at her with a growing smile. "You're always there. More loyal than he is, sometimes. But he is a thief, and you are my Wolf, so I suppose that's probably why. Do fish have fingers? Like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike. I wish I could dance, dancing looked fun. Are they chips, or crisps, or fries? What's poutine? Why isn't the funny one with us? Or the other one?"
Rose's grin grew with all of Idris rambling until she was giggling.
"You're all over the place, you are." She said affectionately.
"Time and Space. Oh! That sounds right. Time and Space. Time in Space? It's all about the dimensions being relative."
Idris eyed Rose expectantly.
"Time and Relative Dimension In Space." Rose said without thinking about it as she held Idris's eye.
"You were always a bit more clever than him." She said. "He knows a lot, but not good at seeing what's right in front of him sometimes."
"You're not?" Rose asked.
"Oh, but I am. We shared a mind and … one of these silly, squishy containers." She said as she raised her arms and looked at them with a frown.
Rose smiled, tongue between her teeth. "Pleasure to meet you, TARDIS."
~DWDWDW~
"I see. The asteroid is sentient." The Doctor said as he looked through the grate that the strange, patched together aliens had led him too.
Amy watched him observe the green glow the came from below, all the while unable to shake the feeling that something was off.
She supposed, though, that it didn't help that she felt awkward in her own skin. It was almost as if she had a weird disconnect with herself. She didn't want to say anything, not with the TARDIS shutting down, and the loony that Rose left the Doctor to tend to, but it was almost as if she was having an out of body experience. No, that wasn't even right, it was as if she left her brain in the other Universe and she was simply going through motions. She could still think, but it was just … odd.
"We walk on his back," Auntie said. "Breathe his air, eat his food."
"Smell its armpits." She said, trying not to shake her head, or do anything that might tip Rory and the Doctor off that something was wrong.
Not that they'd have noticed with the way that Auntie and Uncle stood straight, eyes vacant.
"And do my will." They said in unison with a disturbingly deep voice. "You are most welcome, travelers."
"What the bloody hell was that?" Amy asked, moving slightly behind Rory and grabbing on to his shoulders. "That the asteroid talking?"
"You," The Doctor replied as Auntie and Uncle didn't move. "So you're like a sea urchin?" The Doctor said as he moved away from the grate, stomping on the asteroid surface. "Hard outer surface. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside."
"That is correct, Time Lord."
"How is it so polite when the Doctor just called it an oogly thing?" Rory asked quietly, and Amy merely shrugged.
"So you've met Time Lords before?" The Doctor asked, and Amy could acknowledge that he was trying not to sound too hopeful.
"Many travelers have come through the rift," the Asteroid replied. "Like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break."
"Repair them?" Rory questioned, and Amy followed his eyes to where Auntie and Uncle stood. Their strange limps and awkward posture. "Oh, that's …."
"What is it?" Amy asked, not seeing what Rory did. Sure, they looked awkward, but they were alive.
"So there are Time Lords here then?" The Doctor asked, pointedly.
"Not anymore, but there have been many TARDISes on my back in days gone by." The Asteroid replied.
"Oh, where is Rose when you need her to talk some sense in to him." Rory mumbled.
"Why?" Amy asked, and Rory turned to her.
"Why?" He repeated quietly.
"Well, won't any more after us. Last full Time Lord. Last TARDIS." The Doctor confessed.
"House repairs people? No more Time Lords left? He's not seeing the obvious, he's trying to see what he wants." Rory continued to say quietly. "Rose would tell him to think, or something. I dunno, just think she's likely the only one who'd …." He paused as the Doctor came toward them. "We're not actually going to stay here, are we?" He asked.
"It seems like a friendly planet. Literally." The Doctor replied, he then turned back to Auntie and Uncle with a charming smile. "Mind if we poke around a bit?"
"You can look all you want." Auntie said, gesturing about as she hobbled over. "Go, look. House loves you." She reached up, patted Amy on the face, and Amy acknowledged Rory's eyes going wide.
As Auntie sauntered away, Rory returned to Amy's side and harshly whispered. "That was the same thing we say on the cube. Inner arm, she had a tattoo, I recognized the snake eating itself.
Amy honestly could remember seeing it.
"Come on then, gang. We're going to see the sights." The Doctor said, tilting his head.
"Doctor, are you sure we should? Sure we shouldn't get Rose, get back to the TARDIS, and figure out what's going on?" Rory asked.
The Doctor smiled. "Rose's fine. In fact, she feels happy, amused maybe. She's alright, as are we. So, come along, Ponds. Let's poke around House."
He headed off, and with a huff and a head shake, Rory followed. Amy moved, on instinct, completely unsure as to why they were poking around or even why she had to go with them.
~DWDWDW~
"So as soon as the TARDIS is refueled, we go, yeah?" Rory asked the Doctor as they navigated the labyrinth on the asteroid leading back to where the TARDIS was. Rose's laughter mixed with that of the other woman, echoing off the stone walls to where they were. The Doctor moved away from where it was.
"No," He finally answered Rory's question. "There are Time Lords here. I heard them, and they need me."
"You told us about your people," Amy reminded the Doctor. "You told us what you did."
"Yes, but if they're like the Corsair, they're good. I can save them."
"Then tell them you destroyed the others?" Amy countered.
"I didn't, though. Not at the time. The Master was still out there, and now they are too. I have a daughter, they don't need to know she came after …. And I can explain. Tell them why I had to." The Doctor said as he finally stopped.
"You want to be forgiven." Amy realized, though Rory noted she didn't seem to have her usual empathy that came with anything involving her Raggedy Man.
"Don't we all?" The Doctor asked sheepishly. "It's one thing to have it from Rose, but it's not proper forgiveness, it's understanding. The Master got sucked back into the war, whether it was his intention or not. He … he forgave, as much as he could. But the Corsair? He was a good man. And maybe he's not the only familiar Time Lord here."
Amy nodded, but gave him no smile. "What do you need from me?" She asked.
The Doctor patted himself down. "My screwdriver. I left it in the TARDIS. On the console." He replied.
"I don't remember seeing it there." Rory countered, knowing full well that the Doctor was likely just getting rid of them.
"Well it blends in when you glance." The Doctor waved it off.
"I'll get it." Amy said, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her mobile. She tossed it to the Doctor. "Call you from the TARDIS."
"Right," The Doctor said, and Amy turned and headed back toward the blue box. "Rory, look after her." He said, watching Amy with curiosity.
"Yeah." Rory nodded. He caught up to Amy pretty quickly, and they made it back to the TARDIS in seconds. "Hey," he caught her arm as she opened the time ship. "You alright? You don't seem to be yourself."
"Don't feel quite right." Amy admitted. "But it'll pass. Come on. Doctor without Rose likely shouldn't be left alone too long." They went inside, and headed right for the console.
Both he and Amy patted down the surface, the emergency lighting not giving them much to go on. He heard Amy picking up the receiver of the TARDIS phone, and punched buttons.
"We're here." She said after a moment. "Where about on the console?"
As he waited for Amy to get the information, Rory was quite certain he heard the door lock behind him.
"Did you do that?" Amy asked as she hung up.
"Been up here near you." He countered. "Why would the door just lock?"
"Dunno. Would Rose know?" Amy asked.
Rory reached into his pocket and got out his own mobile, finding Rose's number and calling it.
A cell on top of the console rang, shifting in small increments as it vibrated.
"Oh, that's not good." Rory commented as he hung up.
"Why? They have that bond thing. Don't need phones." Amy said with a shrug.
He gaped at her. "Amy, the Doctor is out there on a dead end search for a bunch of Time Lords that aren't likely alive. We just got locked in the TARDIS, and the only other person who might be able to help us we can't get a hold of." She didn't react. "Amy, we are in trouble."
"No we're not." She assured, then her eyes went wide. "On second thought …."
Rory frowned, turned, and felt his stomach flop. Green smoke eerily he same color as the glow coming from the grates in the Asteroid.
~DWDWDW~
"Do you have a name?" Rose asked the TARDIS. Idris. The TARDIS in Idris's body.
It wasn't just tenses that were difficult anymore.
"Not really." She replied. "Old Girl works well."
"Bet it was in the instruction manual." Rose snorted, and the TARDIS let out a hearty laugh that seemed to surprise herself.
"Oh!" She said, delicately putting her hand on her mouth, eyes wide. "That was strange. I see you and my thief do that a lot, but I didn't know…." She furrowed her brow as she dropped her hand on her lap.
"Didn't know what?" Rose asked.
"How it would feel." The TARDIS replied, "It's like … joy. Pure joy tainted by a physical presence. Yet it makes it seem more real. I like that. I want to do it again." She said with an earnest smile.
"Suppose we could try and make ya laugh, though not sure how. Can't properly tell you any funny stories, you're there for it all. Like the time the Doctor go his hand stuck in the jam jar."
The TARDIS laughed more than the memory warranted. "He was getting that sticky substance all over my controls so I shrunk the jar."
"You did not?" Rose gapped.
"Oh yes." The TARDIS replied, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I once hid the yellow long things that he always said were good for a week because he kept fiddling with the wires when they didn't need working. He did that a lot when the handsome wrong one came on board. He wasn't wrong then. He was wrong before that. No, after. You made him wrong."
"Jack," Rose said. Before she could dwell on that, she thought to ask, "Why didn't you help me? Back then, the first time I looked into your heart. Why didn't you help me get back to him like you did not long ago?"
"I may have a mind of my own, but I don't always have control." She said with a bit of aggravation to her nearly constant cheerful tone. "Emergency program one was made to lock my controls from even me should he use it. So I don't try and get my thief back myself."
Rose nodded. "That why you didn't … when I looked it your heart, coulda died. Coulda went the way of Blon Fel-Fotch, reversed to a baby, or something. You let me use the vortex to rewrite time."
The TARDIS smiled warmly. "Oh my dear Wolf, we were always meant to be one like that. Before you came along, I was the closest thing to a bond mate the Doctor would ever have. But after we lost our home, our families, we both needed someone else. He needed companionship. Proper companionship, not what he means by all the strays coming and going. And I," She looked sheepish. "I needed a sister. Someone whose heart and soul are as strong as mine, and belonged to the same man."
"And you chose me?"
"No my dear Wolf," The TARDIS laughed. "You were made for us."
A tidal wave of rage came over Rose, drowning out the warmth she was feeling for the woman with her for a moment before it was under control. She could picture little boxes clearly in her mind, little boxes that looked exactly like the one that had flown into the ship earlier.
"Something's wrong." Rose said, catching the brown eyes of the human TARDIS.
"Won't be long now." She said with a nod.
The two women waited in amicable silence. Rose reached out for her husband through their bond, but couldn't seem to get him to connect now that he was shut down.
The TARDIS closed her eyes, sitting lotus style, hands place on her knees as if she were meditating, and Rose was struck by how natural it seemed. As if this was merely the personification of her background hum when she wasn't actively involved with anything.
She heard the distinct sound of the Doctor's boots on the hard, rock ground and no one else's.
"How did you know about the boxes?" He asked as he stood directly behind Rose, his toes nudging her thigh.
"Ah, it's my thief." The TARDIS said without opening her eyes.
"Who are you?" He demanded.
That got her attention, and her displeasure at his lack of knowledge evident.
"Do you not know me? Just because they put me in here? Our Wolf knew, she figured it out. How can't you?"
"What are you on about? Why would Rose know who you are because they locked you up?"
"Not the cage, stupid." She said as she got to her feet. She approached the bars of her cage, and Rose got to her feet so they'd all be roughly eye level. The human TARDIS put her hands on her cheeks. "In here. They put me in here."
The Doctor merely stared at her, suspicion unwavering.
"She's the TARDIS." Rose finally said.
A/N: I hated not saying this was coming because there was no way I could do a Pond era without having human TARDIS.
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