Author's Note: Okay, the stop on the amusement park planet demanded its own chapter. Here it is :)
Standard Disclaimer: Who would have guessed that I don't own Doctor Who?
Chapter Four
With three drivers, two of whom had a telepathic link to the TARDIS, the trips were much smoother than they had been when Rose was first traveling with the Doctor. Still, their new TARDIS reminded Rose a bit of a teenager at times, trying to prove her independence. As they landed on Theropp, the sentient ship decided to wait until after they'd come to a complete stop to settle heavily once more, landing Jack and the Doctor on the ground. Rose couldn't help but laugh at their surprised faces, and Lily joined in happily.
Rose helped the Doctor stand back up and looked around, finding herself still experiencing some disbelief that they were finally back in the TARDIS. The console room was so much like the one she remembered, except that the colors were just the slightest bit brighter and the room just a tiny bit smaller. She watched as Jack checked supplies in his backpack before strapping it on. A few feet away, the Doctor was strapping Lily into the wrap that he would be wearing that day.
The Doctor noticed her silence and stillness and raised an eyebrow, sending an inquiring feeling towards her.
Rose shook her head.
"Everything's fine," she said in explanation. "Everything's just so perfect right now. It's like I'm afraid if I look too close, something bad's gonna happen, you know?"
The Doctor walked over to Rose and hugged her as best he could without making the baby on his chest uncomfortable.
"I can't promise nothing will ever happen," he said in a low voice as Jack made himself scarce, giving them a moment alone, "but we've both had enough bad in our lives to balance out the good, right? Besides, the three of us, we're brilliant, we are! We can handle anything this universe or any other decides to throw at us, hmm?"
Rose smiled, then chuckled a bit at finding herself the one brooding with the Doctor trying to cheer her instead of the other way around.
"There we are," the Doctor said with a grin. "Now then, let's go, shall we?" he asked, extending his arm for her to grab onto, raising his voice enough for Jack to hear the all-clear to return.
Jack returned to the room, and the group went to the doors, Jack exiting first with the Tylers behind him, the Doctor starting his explanation of the planet.
"Theropp didn't actually start out as a planet for the amusement of visitors. In fact," he continued, "in this time, it's relatively new, but after it has been established for a millennia or so, the crime rate rises, and…" he trailed off as he closed the TARDIS doors behind him, taking note of the ship's current form.
The group had landed in an art exhibit of sorts, and the TARDIS had taken the form of a statue. Instead of a serious statues like the ones in their parking area, though, this statue was playful. It was an animation-style version of Rose, wearing a bright pink hoodie, looking up at the sky and whistling. Instead of whistles, however, this statue was sending out a steady stream of water that was being caught by its outstretched hands before disappearing.
Rose let go of the Doctor's arm for a moment to bury her face in her own hands, then looked up and smiled.
"Alright," she said aloud to the TARDIS, "I get it. I'll cheer up. Happy?"
In return, she felt affection and the mental equivalent of a nudge emanating from the ship. Meanwhile, the Doctor was turned to the side so a delighted Lily could see the statue more easily, and Jack seemed to be taking pictures with a small camera.
"Jack!" said Rose. "That's enough!"
"Okay, Rosie," he replied with a good-natured smile on his face.
Rose was certain the photos would turn up later, probably at the next group function that included alcohol. She rolled her eyes and walked toward what looked to be the exit from the art section.
"C'mon, let's go see what we came for," she told the others, taking the Doctor's hand as he caught up to her, Jack moving to walk on her other side.
Together, the three adults and the baby made their way toward the more interactive parts of this section of the planet, the Doctor keeping up a constant narrative stream.
"Each city is its own amusement park," he explained. "The employees actually live off-planet at one of the moons," he pointed at a moon low on the horizon before continuing, "so there isn't even permanent housing planetside. The planet was originally used for mining alone, but one particular group came to the planet with a surplus of both children and engineers. The engineers without work decided to create a place for the children to have fun, and it all quickly evolved from there. This was about a century and a half ago, give or take a year or two, so none of the original inhabitants are still around. However, one of the cities is only available to descendants of those who worked here when the planet was opened to the public. It's got the best quality rides, of course, but the penalty for sneaking in is rather, well, permanent, so I didn't want to risk it with Lily along. Still, the city we're in now, Shrapix, is the next best, and it has the widest variety of attractions of any of the cities."
At this point, they had reached an area filled with carnival games, and Jack stopped at one of them.
"Hey, Doc," he said, "I bet I can break more plates than you can."
The Doctor looked at Jack and studied the game intently for a moment.
"What are we betting?" he asked.
"First night out of the TARDIS on a not-for-families location," said Jack, an easy smile on his face.
The Doctor glanced at Rose to be sure she was okay with the stakes, then agreed, taking Lily out of the baby wrap and handing her to Rose, who was watching with interest. Though the Doctor wasn't really the sort to involve himself in sports on any regular basis, in her experience, she knew he had excellent aim when he wanted to use it.
The game appeared to be nothing uncommon. There were three rows of plates that were raised, lowered, or moved side-to-side with no obvious pattern. Contestants were given seven balls and had to break five plates for a small prize, six for a medium, and seven for a large.
"I'll go first, if you don't mind," said Jack.
Letting him, the Doctor watched the plates closely as Jack threw, analyzing the movement patterns as best he could. The gentleman running the game (a human, by all outward appearances, though everyone present knew those could be deceiving) seemed surprised that Jack was able to hit five plates on his first try. Jack retrieved his prize, a small stuffed bear, and turned back to his group, clapping the Doctor on the chest as he walked by, wishing him luck, and returned to stand next to Rose.
The Doctor stepped up to the throwing line after retrieving the balls from the attendant, and he took aim. His first throw solidly connected with a plate.
"It really comes down to having the mental capacity to judge the patterns and estimate the velocity at which the ball will move as compared to the speed at which the plate is moving," he explained loudly enough for them to hear over the crowded area as he prepared to throw the next ball.
He released the ball, but just before it reached its target, the plate dropped to just below where the ball would have hit. While the Doctor looked at the plates, a bit puzzled, Rose darted a glance at Jack; she was pretty sure she'd heard the brief but distinctive noise of the sonic just before the plate jerked away. Jack winked at her, and Rose sighed and then grinned.
Jack continued to move the plates just out of the range of the Doctor's throws, and after his fifth miss, the Doctor was getting quite frustrated, and Rose and Jack were having trouble containing their laughter. Lily seemed content to just watch everything around her.
"I don't understand. With that velocity and trajectory, the sphere should be striking at exactly the right moment. This game must be rigged," the Doctor said, turning to face his companions. At the sight of them trying to hold back laughter, the Doctor's expression shifted to something between suspicion and exasperation.
"Jack," he started, reaching for his sonic, "did you…" Finding the sonic screwdriver missing from his pocket, the Doctor leveled a glare at the other man, who immediately burst into laughter.
"Sorry, Doc," he said, handing back the sonic screwdriver, "but it was worth it just to see your face."
"I hope you know this means you forfeited the bet," said the Doctor, taking the screwdriver and pointing it at Jack as he spoke. It reminded Rose of a cross teacher holding a ruler while lecturing a student, and Rose finally lost control of her laughter. She had a good long laugh, Lily joining in shortly after she started, and the Doctor himself joining in, though much more restrained, after Rose was unable to stop laughing.
When the group finally settled down, the Doctor threw his last ball, hitting his intended target. The group started off toward their next attraction, Jack moving to give the small toy he'd won to Lily.
"Wait, Jack," said the Doctor, taking the sonic screwdriver and running it twice over the bear. "Never know what's on these carnival toys."
He gave the bear back to Jack to gift to Lily, who took the bear, a look of awe on her face from where she was cradled in Rose's arms, and promptly stuck the corner of its head in her mouth to gnaw on.
"Made sure no parts would come off while I was cleaning it," said the Doctor before Rose could express concern over a choking hazard.
"So, where to next?" asked Jack as Lily was transferred back to the wrap the Doctor still wore.
"Next," the Doctor replied, "is the cinema."
As they made their way toward an uninteresting-looking building, Rose asked, "Can't we see the cinema back home?"
"Ah," said the Doctor, "of course, but this one has an immersion system. The glasses-free 3D viewing area extends all the way into the audience, and the seats move along with the film. We should be just in time to watch 'Exploring Earth.' It is supposed to be very exciting, an outsider's perspective of your planet, created specifically for immersion cinemas around three thousand years after we live there."
O~O~O~O~O~O
An hour later, the group emerged from the cinema. Jack and Rose each looked a bit sick to their stomachs, and Lily had fallen asleep. The Doctor, meanwhile, seemed to have enjoyed himself immensely.
"And then all that time on the ocean!" he was saying, mimicking a rocking motion with his hands as Rose looked away. "Totally inaccurate, of course, but that's understandable considering…" he trailed off, taking in the appearance of the rest of his group. "Didn't you like it?" he asked, sounding a bit hurt.
"It was great, Doctor," replied Rose weakly. "I just might not be up for the whole immersion cinema experience thing yet."
"The rocking," groaned Jack, "and the smells. You didn't mention the smells."
"Well, the odour of rotting fish was actually quite…" the Doctor stopped talking when Jack looked as if he may actually vomit, surprising the Doctor since he'd seen Jack drink inordinate amounts of alcohol without any stomach troubles at all. "Right. So, then," he continued, changing the subject slightly, "Jack and I have each picked something to do. It's your turn, Rose."
He grinned at her in that special way he had, and Rose marveled that he could make her feel beautiful and intelligent with just a look. It was the pride that was mixed in with the smile, she thought.
"Can we just walk around for a bit and I'll let you know when I see something good?" she asked.
"Of course," replied the Doctor, reaching out a hand to Rose and then leading the group away from the large building they'd left.
Lily had eaten before the movie and then fallen asleep as soon as the rocking began, so Rose expected her to sleep for some time. Meanwhile, Rose looked around as they walked. They seemed to be moving through an arcade collection, and she could see a roller coaster and Ferris wheel a little ways further in the direction they were going. She listened to the Doctor's voice as he explained a little more about how the cities were organized.
"We did skirt the edges of the physical interaction sector, which is where the throwing games were located," he was saying, with just a quick glare at Jack, "but mostly we've been in the visual entertainment sector the whole time. The cinemas, of course, can be found in several of the different sectors. The sector we are approaching is the one for rides and such; basically, what we'll find here are things we get into, and then something happens that we cannot control, such as with the roller coaster, which is a fairly standard one. Other sectors include ones that stimulate your mind with mazes and puzzles and the like, ones that cater to Jack's sort of amusements, and ones that cater to gastronomical pleasures."
"I think I'd like to go on the Ferris wheel," said Rose as they got closer to that ride. "Lily should be able to sleep through it, and I haven't been on one in ages."
"I think I'll stay down here," said Jack, "but you two go ahead. I'll meet you back at the TARDIS by sundown."
He veered off from the two, looking eager to reach his goal.
Rose laughed.
"It's good having Jack along," she said, "and I like that he knows when to give us space, too. Need to make sure we go places he likes, too, alright? Don't want to make him feel like we're using him or like he's tagging along."
"Of course," said the Doctor with a sniff. "I'm not always rude, you know. He's headed straight for the carnal sector, anyway, so I'm sure he'll feel plenty appreciated by the time he gets back to the TARDIS."
The family got in line and waited for a turn on the Ferris wheel, discussing what was around them, Rose commenting on what she thought people were like or were thinking, the Doctor explaining the varied architectural styles they could see and the design properties involved in the spherical, enclosed capsules on the ride they were approaching.
They were finally seated, and the ride started, moving around in a large, slow circle. Rose leaned against the Doctor, content, able to see their daughter's sleeping face from where her head rested. When the ride paused with them at the top, Rose looked out at all she could see: the large city filled with attractions and buildings and people, the grey landscape beyond the city's boundaries, the dull blue sky around them. She jumped a little when the Doctor spoke, having adjusted to the quiet.
"We can see anything we want, Rose," he said, his voice low and serious. "This world or any other, anywhere in time or space, we can go. We may go more slowly now that our family has grown, but we're still us. The Doctor and Rose Tyler, in the TARDIS, as it should be, exploring and finding new things, new adventures."
Rose looked over at her husband, wondering what had gotten him so serious so suddenly. Feeling her eyes on him, the Doctor looked back at Rose, then broke into a grin.
"So, that being said," he continued in a happy voice, "where would you like to go next?"
O~O~O~O~O~O
The family eventually tired of the park and returned to the TARDIS, settling down for the evening, relaxing in the library after Lily was transferred to her crib. The Doctor had brought Rose an encyclopedia to help her choose their next destination, and he answered any questions she had as they cuddled on the couch. Right around nightfall, an exhausted Jack Harkness entered the library, collapsing onto the recliner with a contented sigh. The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Rose as if to say he'd told her that would happen. She giggled.
"Good day, then, Jack?" she asked the man who'd closed his eyes.
"Oh, yeah," he said, satisfaction evident. He opened them long enough to take a peek at Rose. "You guys decide where you're having your date yet?" he asked.
"I think so," said Rose, pointing at an entry in her book and looking at the Doctor, who nodded in approval.
Rose grinned before speaking.
"Next stop, Planet Gabble."
Review!
britgirlatheart: Here's more for you! Mwah!