Thanks for the reviews I'm getting, I do so love to read them. Please humour me with the 'TARDIS CCTV' - it was the only way I could 'bring Amy up to speed' on the Doctor's relationship with Rose without spending several chapters rehashing seasons one through four. Please read, enjoy and review.
Disclaimer: I (sadly) own nothing.
"Doctor, I'm sorry about yesterday, I was just overly emotional. I'm sure you were right about the suit being just a coincidence." Amy walked into the TARDIS console room, looking, to a casual observer, as though she had not a care in the world. But the Doctor looked at her and knew that she was still hurting. He had to get to the bottom of things – not just for himself, but for Amy's sake as well.
"Amy, I'm sorry. But I need to talk to you some more about your parents." He looked at Amy as he spoke and saw the almost visible wall she put up at the mention of her parents.
"I'd rather talk about the next planet we're visiting" she said, in a 'subject closed' voice. The Doctor sighed, and then continued.
"No, Amy, this is serious. You see, when I put you to bed last night, that photo you pointed out to me – I recognised the people in it. They were friends of mine." Amy's jaw dropped open, which would have made the Doctor laugh had this not been such a serious matter.
"But if you knew them, why didn't you say so last night – or when you met me?" Amy said, her voice taut with tension.
"Because I didn't know you knew them...it's hard to explain. In your time line, I knew your parents a long time ago, before they had you, before they were married. But in my time line, the last time I saw them was a couple of years ago." The Doctor had no idea how to explain all this to Amy. He'd already told her about regeneration, so she would be able to grasp that the Doctor had changed, but everything else – his history with Rose, for instance – would no doubt come as a shock to her. After all, the woman he'd loved was Amy's mother.
"Please, just tell me everything Doctor. I want to know." Amy pleaded. The Doctor thought for a few moments, before an idea came into his mind.
"Let me show you instead." He took Amy by the hand and they ran down the TARDIS corridors until they came to the viewing room. Usually, this was where Amy and the Doctor watched movies after a long day saving the world.
"For some reason, I'm not sure what, the TARDIS has a visual record of everything connected to me. Think of it as some kind of TARDIS/Doctor CCTV." The Doctor said as he tinkered with the dials on the viewing console. When he had everything set up, he and Amy sat down on the big comfy sofa and watched as a tall man dressed in dark colours and wearing a black leather jacket walked around a London department store.
"Ha! Who's that? Those ears are enormous?" Amy cackled.
"Hey, I liked those ears. I thought you'd be more amused by the accent – I was proud of that one." The Doctor said.
"That's Mum. She looks so young, and happy. Mind you, she always looked happy. What's she doing with big ears?"
"Amy, 'big ears' is me. Remember what I told you about regeneration?" The Doctor said. He wondered how much abuse he'd have to endure during the time it would take them to watch his adventures with and after Rose.
"Oh, yeah, I remember. So, wait, you knew my Mum before my Dad did?"
"That's complicated. Technically, yes I did."
"Who is that idiot, and why is he always hanging around? Can't he see Mum doesn't want him around?" Amy asked the Doctor as Mickey moaned to Rose about leaving him.
"That's Mickey, and trust me, I used to ask myself those questions all the time. He never used to get the hint." The Doctor grinned as he remembered how much he'd tormented 'Ricky the idiot'.
"Mum had weird taste. First Mickey the idiot, then big ears...oh...that was...ewwwww!" The Doctor laughed at Amy's sudden realisation that he Mum had 'fancied' his ninth self. He'd known about Rose's feelings for him, of course, and he'd had feelings for her too, but he was bitter, and angry, and he sometimes pushed Rose away without meaning to. She'd always stuck by him though, treating him at times like an older brother who needed keeping in line. That had suited him fine, most of the time.
"Why did you send her back home?" Amy asked, her voice thick with tears.
"Because I loved her. And also, I didn't want Jackie to hit me again" the Doctor joked, causing Amy to throw a cushion at him.
"Dad always told me how scary Gran was. She died when I was a baby, so I don't remember her."
The Doctor looked at Amy with real warmth in his eyes as he remembered Jackie. "She was full of fire, and full of love for Rose. She was loyal, and she cared. And she slapped me more times than I care to remember."
Amy looked at the Doctor, seeing a new side of him – he had loved her mother, and her mother's family. It just felt...strange.
"Ewwww...you kissed my Mum!" Amy covered her eyes in shock and disgust.
"That was a time vortex transfer, nothing else." The Doctor snapped.
"That...that's my Dad. Oh...ewww...you're my father...I kissed my own...I think I'm going to be sick" Amy said, getting up and preparing to run out of the room. The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her back down onto the sofa.
"Settle down, Pond. I'm not your father, just keep watching." The Doctor said calmly.
So they watched, as Sycorax nearly killed 1/3 of mankind. They watched as Torchwood was set up, and Cassandra took over first Rose's body and then the Doctor's. They watched the Doctor and Rose get closer and closer, falling in love more and more, without saying the words. Then they watched as the Doctor and Rose ended up in the parallel world – Pete's world.
"That must be Mum's Dad. He left after Gran died – it nearly broke Mum's heart." Amy parroted, as children do when they've been told something so often, it becomes a memory for them.
They watched at the Doctor and Rose saved Pete's world, saved 1950s London, and encountered endless planets and civilisations. Then they watched as Rose was sucked towards the void. The Doctor had tears falling down his face as he remembered how utterly desolate he'd felt, and the gratitude he'd felt toward Pete for saving her. Amy simply turned to the Doctor and pulled him into her arms. He sobbed on her shoulder for a minute or two, then pulled himself together.
"Doctor...what happened next?" Amy asked quietly.
"Just...watch" the Doctor replied.
So Amy and the Doctor watched as Rose and her family drove to Bad Wolf Bay in Norway.
"That's funny." Amy said, sounding thoughtful. The Doctor tilted his head in a questioning gesture. "The house where we lived was called 'The House of Brick', and Mum and Dad used to say that it was to stop the Big Bad Wolf blowing it down – apparently I used to sing that song as a child."
The Doctor burst out laughing – that sounded just like something his Rose would do.
He and Amy watched the screen as it showed Rose and the Doctor speaking for the last time, and they watched as the hologram image of Rose disappeared, indicating that the two worlds were sealed.
"Doctor, I'm confused. That man looked like my Dad – except my Dad had a Scottish accent. But that man was you. And you said you're not my Dad. And Rose...Mum...she was left behind, alone." Amy said, sounding confused. She received no answer, however, as the Doctor had left the room, unable to watch the pain on his own, old face.
He remembered that time – he'd mourned Rose as though she were dead, because to him, he may as well have been. It had taken a very long time to be happy that at least she was alive and well.
He paced around the TARDIS for ten minutes or so, during which time it took all of his self control not to take the TARDIS back in time to when Amy was a child, just so that he could see Rose again. He knew now that it would always be a constant struggle with himself not to do this. Once he had his emotions in check again, the Doctor walked back into the viewing room. Amy had carried on watching, and as he entered the room, she turned to him, smiling but with empathy on her face.
"You mourned her, didn't you? Donna was so different to Mum, and you couldn't stand it at first. Donna is exactly like you described her to me. I'd have liked her, I think." Amy said, a hopeful twinge to her voice.
"Amy, I told you about Donna. You'll never be able to meet her."
Amy looked at the Doctor pensively, her head tilted to one side. The Doctor wondered what was coming.
"You told me about Donna, and Martha, Captain Jack Harkness – who I still want to meet, by the way – Astrid, The Master, Sarah Jane Smith, even Adam. But you never mentioned Rose, not once." Amy said.
"I couldn't." The Doctor sighed to himself and, again, raked his fingers through his hair. He looked exhausted – this had taken its toll on him more so than it had on Amy. For Amy, she was finding out that her Mum had been like a superhero, saving the world and still looking awesome while doing so. But for the Doctor, it meant re-living some of his happiest memories, like the way Rose had looked while lying on apple grass on New Earth. How good it had felt to go to the 2012 Olympics, holding her hand. However, it had also brought back his saddest memories. Leaving her behind on Bad Wolf Bay, seeing her face when she knew he'd been flirting with the infamous historical beauty, Reinette. This 'film', for him, was 'The best of times, the worst of times' – to quote an old friend.
"Amy – I loved Rose Tyler like I've never loved anyone before, and probably won't do again. She knew me like she knew herself – she could look at me and know what I was thinking, and I could do the same with her. I could measure her happiness in the beat of my own hearts, and our hands fit together perfectly. She was my soul mate, my other half. So that is why I don't...can't talk about her now."
Amy looked shocked, for about the hundredth time that day. She'd forgotten, again, that the Rose that the Doctor was talking about was her mother.
They sat in a companionable silence, watching the Doctor travel with Martha Jones, then with Donna Noble. And as they watched the reunion between Rose and the Doctor, the Doctor started fidgeting – he knew what was coming next.
"THAT is my Dad. I can see it now – that is 100% my father!" Amy shrieked, making the Doctor jump out of his skin.
"Yes, that is your father, Amy."
"He grew out of your hand? That's weird...weird and freaky...and gross! Eww!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes at Amy's reaction, and just continued watching the screen, as the Doctor, helped by all of his 'children of time', saved 27 planets from Davros and his evil plan. Then they watched as, one by one, all the companions left, including Rose, her Doctor, and finally, in a way that made Amy's heart want to break, Donna.
"Doctor...everyone left you." Amy whispered. Beside her, the Doctor nodded.
"That was ok. I didn't expect them to stay. It was the perfect reunion for us all." He grinned, remembering everything that had happened, how much fun they'd all had, how much laughter they'd shared.
"So, you gave my Dad to my Mum?" Amy asked, perplexed.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, I gave your Dad to your Mum. He needed her, and she needed me, and he was 99.9% me. Because he came from me, and because I loved her, he loved her. He had all of my memories, memories of adventures we'd shared. The two of them were perfect together." The Doctor explained, his voice tender, and filled with love and hope.
"And you gave them a TARDIS!" Amy giggled at the thought of her parents – the parents she'd thought she knew – travelling around through the universe as she and the Doctor did now.
"Thank you for showing me this, Doctor." Amy said, trying to stifle a yawn.
"I never would have hidden it from you. You understand that I didn't know who your parents were until yesterday, don't you?" The Doctor asked casually.
"Yeah, I know. I'm going to bed, to dream about them, hopefully. I feel close to them today, as though they were here with us." Amy stood up and hugged the Doctor tightly, before walking out of the room.
As Amy left, the smile faded from the Doctor's face until it was slowly replaced by a frown. He still had a lot of things to figure out, and without Amy finding out what he was doing. He'd have to go back to when Amy was a baby – now, while she was asleep would be the best time. He'd just have to trust that TARDIS to keep her occupied and safe while he went investigating.
Thank you for reading. This was quite a hard chapter to write, and sorry about all the jumps between the action, but I wanted Amy's reaction without long descriptions about what was going on. Oh, and I almost forgot - this takes place after Flesh and Stone, but everything canon after Flesh and Stone didn't take place (I couldn't fit Rory into the story but still wanted Amy to have the worry that she'd kissed her own father). Next time, we'll catch up some more with Rose and her Doctor.