Hey :) I'm finally here and, I'm proud to say, I've updated :) This chapter is much longer than the usual, but it just has to be, and you'll discover why!
Anyway, before reading, I suggest you to look up what I'm going to write next in the notes, which clarifies some things.
I re-invented the Bad Wolf story, totally. It is barely similar to the actual one, so don't be surprised if you seem to find some inaccuracies, because they're all made on purpose. I'm going to explain it more and more as the story goes on, so stay tuned!
4. - The encounter.
"So, where are we heading?" River exclaimed, a shade of dissatisfaction within her voice. Re-thinking the whole thing, she was confident that a little further research would've been useful and no-one would've got hurt. But the Doctor was so willing to take off, and now there was no coming back.
"I think we are…" he interrupted, quickly inspecting all of the main controls of the ship and adjusting his bowtie in the meantime "I think the TARDIS is going on her own again!"
"Again?! Why?!" River shouted, as she approached the machine and started checking herself.
"Yes! She doesn't want me to do absolutely anything, it's like she has it all already planned!" the Doctor loudly replied, labouring around rushingly and confusedly looking at some of the screens "Why won't you let me? Where are we going?!"
The TARDIS was completely out of control. Mechanisms spinning on their own, buttons which couldn't be pressed, jammed levers. River was all covered in sweat and her hair looked like a mane, while the Doctor's bowtie was getting limp and his feet were swinging so much they would've made a professional tap dance dancer look hopeless.
But then suddenly some blurred half letters appeared on the main display. They started shuffling, reordering and then shuffling again, then fixing and clearing, until a three-words name was formed.
The Doctor heard the 'bip' and immediately detached his eyes from the numbers of a code he was typing to look at the screen, and… his jaw dropped, also causing his throat to dry instantly.
"No way…"
He started babbling things to himself, nervously stroking his forehead.
River, who had ducked to check if some of the engines were working correctly, got up immediately and looked.
"Bad Wolf Bay… where is that?" she asked, suddenly plagued with the Doctor's concern about that place as she saw his irrefutably distraught expression and overheard his disturbing mumbles.
"It's in a parallel world" he replied in a genuinely very dramatic tone, knowing what the admitting of those words would've provoked.
River was literally gobsmacked.
"How do I know? Well, I've been here before. Multiple times, actually. And when the gap opens, it's always bad news…" he preceded her, insistently pointing at the TARDIS' door.
"Oh my God, there could be literally anything out there!" she yelled in shock, already unsecuring her weapon.
"Yes! And that's the exact reason you're staying right HERE" he recommended, patting the pocket of hers which contained the weapon and rushing to the door.
"YOU'RE KIDDING!" River protested, running to reach his back as fast as she could, her hand holding the handle of the gun.
"No, I'm not. And would you leave that alone for a damn second!" he replied, holding both of her wrists and gently pulling her back "Now, I'm going to inspect the outsides and then, only when I'm ensured there are no any incoming dangers, I'm going to whistle and just then, you can come out!"
River snorted, wrinkling her eyebrows. He was always such a buzzkill!
"Ok, you can come too! Just be careful and let me have one, just one look around"
-
The TARDIS was just before her eyes.
The actual TARDIS.
In the same place she had been waiting for it to appear for years.
Rose wasn't able to swallow anymore. She felt like her lungs were pumping in her chest, so hard they were about to make it explode.
It wasn't an hallucination. How?
It was real. How?
No, it wasn't.
That was the only reasonable explanation.
But then, why would have future Rose come there that exact day? And what was even her purpose? And why was she travelling… in time, apparently?!
All the questions she avoided popped up in her mind in a single, homogenous, huge block, just when the door of the TARDIS screeched. It was opening.
-
After some physical fighting with a now jokingly stubborn River, the Doctor carefully semi-opened the door with his index and middle finger.
He was actually quite confident no-one dangerous was there – there as in the bay – , since he hadn't detected any suspicious hearable sound or smell up to that moment. But, as always, he should've prepared for the impossible.
So, he slowly made his head slip into the slit.
-
That's it.
That was him.
That was his face.
His new face.
Rose was unable to move, talk, or to do anything to react to that sight. She just couldn't.
Thus, she just stood there, her pupils widening, her eyebrows raising, her faith restoring.
-
He looked before himself and realized he didn't prepare for the impossible adequately.
An urge. The urge to close his eyes, turn around and go back in the TARDIS. To pretend that nothing ever happened.
He still could do that.
And yet his head was still hanging there, staring at her, creeping.
He felt River's arms embracing him, her nose pinching his neck.
Why was he still there?
-
Why was she still there?
She took one, small step, to get just a little bit closer.
Even though she was re-acquiring her consciousness, she still couldn't get over many things.
His face and his staring were on top of them.
-
One minute was past, and he was still gazing at her.
He saw, he saw Rose: but how could it be? Why at that precise moment of his existence?
-
"What do you see?" River's voice shook him.
-
Rose was not expecting to hear a voice. She shuddered and flinched immediately.
-
The Doctor saw her again.
Scared, this time.
So, he decided.
A stronger force within himself now knew perfectly what to do.
A big smile abruptly exploded on his face and his eyes deepened, starting to bulge with shining joy.
He snapped his fingers, so that the door of the TARDIS was fully opened, and then he got out with a low hop, sociably approaching his old companion while compulsively rubbing his hands, as usual.
"Hello!" he greeted her, joining his hands together, his hazel eyes sparkling in the sunlight.
-
The new voice!
Rose was imploding.
She felt like she wasn't able to spell any words anymore.
Any meaningful words.
His gaze was like a hot burn searing her face, his voice like a hammer repeatedly hitting her chest, and, last but not least, his breath was like jointed slashing claws, that scratched her face deeper as they got closer.
"Doctor…" she greeted back after a while, inhaling and exhaling slowly to tranquilize her heartbeat as she took two further small steps in his direction, too.
She was close to him, now.
Close enough for her to examine all of his body changes, one by one.
'Lighter eyes, wavy hair, bigger chin, permanent hyped expression, a bit more muscular, white shirt, suspenders, loose old-fashioned trousers… and bow-tie?!'
He looked so overwhelmingly different, she couldn't even smile.
-
He was close to her, now.
Rose was the exact same from the day he left her, expect maybe for the evident dark circles and the longer , scruffier hair.
He couldn't help but smile, even though he didn't really want to.
Nothing about that encounter was good news.
Why was she even there? What kind of coincidence was that?
-
On the opposite side, a blonde girl who was apparently eyeing the Doctor up, looking kind of disgusted and suspicious.
On her side him, staring at her in a nervous, weird way, pulling a weak, crooked smile, as if his jaw was itching.
Though she couldn't quite understand what was going on and what was he up to, River opted for remaining silent until, upon her judgment, she felt it was the right moment to interfere.
So, she went back into the TARDIS to attempt to find out more about the sudden opening of the gap, carefully getting rid of some worrying, but improbable, hypotesis.
-
"So, hum… how's life going? How's your family? " the Doctor asked her, in a very plain, mechanic voice.
Their noses were almost touching and, despite that, the Doctor was expressly staring at anything but her eyes and he also was clearly embarrassed, due to having to pretend to care about he had asked.
But Rose was much less offended by this than she thought she would've been.
He was different now, apparently engaged with yet another, older woman and, at the end, she only had herself to blame if she was totally incapable to move on.
She cleared her throat, then she answered, a bit raspingly:
"They're fine… and I'm fine too, I guess…I-"
"Yeah yeah, it's really nice to hear it, but what about the metacrisis? He died, didn't he?" he interrupted her, nervously.
He had to know. Having him around would've meant further trouble.
"… yes, yes he did. You… you knew that?" Rose's heart was severely stabbed. But, if he knew, that meant…
"Sure, I knew that! His life span went from one day minimum to two weeks maximum, and this because there was too much stuffed in him, too much for a single-hearted human: in simple terms, he wasn't physically adapt to survive with such knowledge, and memories, and intelligence. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but that kind of duplicates never end well" he explained fast, lively gesticulating while talking.
Rose nodded, her eyes opened wide in amazement.
The promise the metacrisis made, that he would've spent all of his life with her, was a blatant lie and they both knew it in the exact moment he made it.
And she should've known too.
After all, she had never been worth such a sacrifice, hadn't she?
-
She was hurt, he could see it.
He wished she understood that, by saying that, he was just being fair to her.
Sure, he lied, but that was because… how could he even think to remind himself about it!
If she just didn't have such a simple mind… if she just could stop torturing him with those damn unavoidable eyes…
-
Rose just couldn't retain herself from doing something that was really unlike her and she knew she was going to regret doing : she sniffled and started crying.
She had been strong for all those years, and now he took away from her the only reason that kept her strong: the thought he would've wanted her to be with him for life, if only that were possible.
But apparently, that had never been true.
-
The Doctor nearly snorted. That was the worst thing that could have ever happened.
What was he supposed to do, now? What did he want to do?
He started looking around, as if he was looking for an answer, when he caught a glimpse of River wandering about in the TARDIS, sporadically glancing at the two of them.
So, he decided to do what he was expected to: to hug her.
Yeah, that was definitely the most reasonable thing to do.
It should've been a quick hug, though.
He couldn't allow himself to stumble upon any further distractions. They needed to discover the mystery behind the gap being casually opened at the same time she was there.
-
Just when Rose thought she couldn't stop sobbing, the Doctor hugged her tight.
She was stunned.
The tears ceased immediately.
As she felt the warmth of his arms wrapped around her, of his palms and wrists holding her back, the beat of his two hearts stuck to her chest, she finally recognized and accepted him.
It was her Doctor! Her Doctor! How could she refuse him?! How could she think such things of him when probably what he's ever had wanted was to keep her safe and joyful…
She was so moved that the tears started flowing again.
-
The smell of her hair, the touch of her breasts, of her short, grasping fingers, of her soft cheeks…
The Doctor was shaking.
He was terrified.
The memories, the nostalgia, the suffering he had been longing to pull away one time for all…
That gesture alone brought them back, and healed them all at the same time.
He had lost her, he had wanted her, he had craved for her, and now there she was again, and she was clung to him, safe, warm…
His Rose, his beloved Rose, his…
'OH, BLIMEY'
As he became aware of his thoughts, he let go immediately, making an effort not to appear too abrupt and make it worse.
Rose was smiling and her eyes were glowing and laughing and shimmering.
"I'm sorry, I'm just being, I… I'm just being really stupid! " she apologized, quickly wiping the emotions away as she saw again his stranger, unfamiliar face.
The Doctor was petrified.
He didn't speak solely because he was very afraid to.
"I'm really sorry, Doctor, but I believe the gap's going to close soon" River suddenly interfered, whose interruption was merely accidental, popping up between them.
He turned over immediately, an extremely stern look on his face.
He was obligated to be himself again, and this caused a weird, vengeful kind of anger to blossom inside him and take him over completely.