On Wolves and Rings

They stayed in the old man's cellar for three days, sleeping on the crates and coming upstairs only after dark for brief walks under the moonless skies. The Nazi patrols were too frequent to risk them staying above ground for any length of time; the truck went roaring by four or five times a day, and stopped for a quick search as often as it passed. Apparently, they either suspected him of something, or just liked to harass the seemingly harmless old fisherman.

The first morning after their arrival, sitting on the crates they'd slept on to get off the cold floor, the Doctor asked Rose what she knew about the history of the world they'd found themselves in. She gave him an amused glare, answering, "I didn't exactly stop and take a world history class!" More serious, she shook her head. "I don't know very much, actually. I'm under the impression, though, that World War Two happened much more recently here than in our world. I think it only ended a few years ago – but I have no idea when it began or how long it lasted.

"I know that the Reich controls most of northern Eurasia, from Ireland straight across to Siberia. And that most of the rest of the world is divided up into a handful of large supercountries taking up whole continents in response – everybody basically banded together with their neighbors to keep the Nazis out. They told me the names... let's see if I can remember them. Ummm..." She began ticking them off on her fingers. "There's Greater America, Confederacion de America Latina, the Empire of the Sun – that's Japan, China, and the rest of eastern Asia – and Afrique-Unis, the Ottoman Empire covering the Middle East, and... I think there's a few countries like India and Australia still on the loose."

"So is there a worldwide cold war?"

She thought, then shook her head. "I think Greater America is the main one opposing the Reich – like the US and Russia in our world. I'm pretty sure they're the only other ones with nukes."

"The Reich has nuclear bombs? That's not good."

She gazed at him solemnly for several long seconds, then quietly told them, "That's how the war ended. They got nukes just before the US did, and they're the ones who dropped them. On London."

"London!" gasped Jackie, while the Doctor looked gut-punched.

Rose glanced at her Mum, sitting close beside her and wrapped in the same heavy blanket for warmth. "It doesn't exist any more. The whole city is a wasteland – a no-man's-land a hundred miles across. Birmingham is the puppet capital."

While they were absorbing this dreadful news, the trap door suddenly opened, and the old man brought down a scrap of paper and pencil along with their cold breakfast, carefully pronouncing the request he'd apparently memorized the English words for phonetically. "Navn – names... for travel papers. Vennligst – please."

Looking quickly at the others, Rose managed to convey that they would give him the names later; he seemed to grasp they needed to come up with some aliases, and went back up the ladder.

"Why not our own names?" Jackie wanted to know, and Rose shot her a level look.

"Because they're known in some places, Mum. It's not safe." Not wanting to answer any questions about that just now, she swiveled to the Doctor. "And forget about 'John Smith', too, Doctor. It was such a common alias that it guarantees you extra scrutiny at any checkpoint. You'll need to come up with something else."

He shrugged, nodding. "That's OK, I'm tired of 'John Smith'. Plus, I've been thinking... I think I should take a human-style name, anyway. Permanently, I mean. I haven't come up with anything, though." He grinned at both women. "I could use some help in that department. Are there any names you particularly like?"

Jackie sensed he really was after her daughter's opinion rather than hers, and just shook her head, smiling. Rose, however, was gazing at him, unexpectedly serious. Finally, she seemed to make up her mind, and took the three steps to his crate. Startling him by putting her hands on his knees as she knelt between them, she gazed up into his eyes from inches away.

"Tell me your real name," she whispered. He didn't need telepathy to know she was asking for so much more than the name alone. How much do you really trust me?

He didn't have to think about it. He covered her hands with his own and spoke the syllables aloud for the first time in centuries.

She sucked in a long, careful breath, tears prickling. "Thank you," she replied simply. Then she blinked, and shook her head, a tiny grin teasing the corner of her mouth. It had been a LOT of syllables. "That's worse than Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

He smothered a snort, trying to keep his face straight. "Try saying it when you're drunk! Now you know why I went by the Doctor, instead!"

That hooked the grin out, along with a giggle, which netted her one in return. Then, replaying it mentally with a look of figuring out a puzzle, she took a deep breath. "Say it again – slowly."

He only got the first two syllables out before she threw up her hand, stopping him. "Jer-red?" she repeated.

"Ye-es," he nodded exaggeratedly, then prepared to go on, teaching it to her a couple of syllables at a time, but she stopped him again with a shake of her head.

"Jared! It's a name, Doctor, an actual, proper English man's name!"

"It is?" He looked over at Jackie for confirmation, and she nodded, grinning. "Oh!" He stared across the room, testing it silently on his tongue.

"Well?" Rose pressed him. When he still looked iffy, she laughed. "Look, you don't have to decide on your permanent new name right now. You can try it out while we're here, and if you don't like it, when we get back home, you can take another one." Seeming to realize she was still on her knees, she pushed herself up and twisted around, settling on the crate right next to him, and he quickly tucked his blanket – and his arm – around her.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

She considered, then nodded. "Yeah. It's a good name." That seemed to settle it, and she went on. "You need a last name, too."

He stopped her with a grin. "Already got one picked out, thanks. Not Smith." Eyes twinkling, he dared her to ask, and after a beat she gave in.

"OK, what?"

"Wolfe. With an E."

Surprised, pleased, she actually blushed, then nodded again. "Jared Wolfe. OK. I like it." A bit uncomfortable, she turned away to look across at Jackie. "What about you, Mum?"

Jackie considered. "Well... I've always liked the name Camille. Camille... Johnson. Is Johnson OK?"

"As far as I know!" Rose nodded. "Camille Johnson."

"What about you, sweetheart? Should we still be mother and daughter?"

"Yeah, I think we should. Otherwise, I know I'd blow it by calling you Mum automatically at the worst possible moment." She stared up at the dingy ceiling for a moment. "Aaah. Shereen. For my old mate. I wonder how her life is going?" she added irrelevantly with a soft snort.

"Well, I'm certain of one thing: less exciting than yours!" Jackie came back. "Shereen Johnson, then?"

"Ye – no." Rose took a quick breath, looking sideways at Jared's shirt, not up to meet his eyes. "Shereen Wolfe."

Eyebrows flaring, he tilted his head forward, catching her eyes anyway and holding them. "I'll have to find you a ring," was his only comment.

A beat, and she just smiled, half shy, half sly.