Ha! I bet you didn't expect that! Don't worry, me neither. lol But as the saying goes... all good things come to those who wait.
So...yeh.
P.s. just to confirm... a summary of everything that happened before Fear Her arc is in Fear Her chapter.
The first rattle fell on deaf ears. It was easily dismissed as a sound of wind moving the things inside.
Inside the child's room, a mother held her daughter's head, cradled to her chest, in order to bring some comfort, which might ease the girl's suffering. She rocked them both in gentle, soothing movements until another rattle was heard. This time loud and clear.
Trish's head perked up at the sound and she saw another, more violent tremble of the wardrobe doors. She stared at it in rising anxiousness until it spoke.
...a haunting voice coming from within closed doors.
"What happened?"
Were the first words spoken out loud after what seemed like forever. It was as long as Rose could hold the silence between them. Everything the Doctor did up until now seemed so on edge of his character that she had to find the cause of it.
She watched him go rigid, his muscles tensing until a defeated sigh escaped him.
"I met something I thought I'd never have to see again," he spoke in a soft, low voice.
Rose pressed her lips together, brows furrowing in concern. "Something bad?"
The Doctor just stood there for a moment; his side facing her, jaw clenching. With a deep breath of air, he turned to face her. The look in his eyes was all that was needed.
"Doctor," she began again in a soft voice. "Just because we'd do something different in the timeline now, doesn't mean it has to change things for the worse later."
"You don't know that." He shook his head slightly.
Rose stared him down for a second longer, then nodded. "All right then. We'll just think of something else, yeh?" She stood up straighter. "What's that we need most right now?"
"Well, that would be… a body."
"Right. Anything else?"
"Not really, no," he sighed and rubbed his palm against his face. "Without a body, its consciousness will just..." He gestured. "Shut down. Float in the air... until the last charged particle stops. Only it's not the air it's gonna float into. It's Chloe's head. And all that residual energy is gonna cause a brain storm. Human brain is too weak to fight it off."
"Right. So let's put that on high alert." Rose nodded once more.
The Doctor knit his brows together in thought. "This's so weird… the whole timeline, from the moment I stepped outside the TARDIS, it felt off. Sort of… wrong." He slowly started to pace around, watching his surroundings. "I don't understand, a timeline shouldn't feel like that," he muttered. He then came to a stop. "Something else must be going on here…"
"What d'you mean?" she asked softly. "Something like what?"
The Doctor, Her Doctor, said that too. But since meeting with the future-Doctor, she just assumed that it was him, causing the energy spikes. Was there something else at work here?
"I'm not sure. It's just… something there." The Doctor stood with hands in his pockets, a faraway look on his face.
"Okay, we'll come back to that later. Now about that body…" Rose tried to approach the subject gently but it still got the reaction out of the Doctor. He turned sharply, his eyes tense.
"They're not having you. Not even if its sick." He then turned his head side-ways, a frown creeping on his face. "And why is it sick right now anyway?" the Doctor continued on. "What caused it?"
"Maybe..." Rose began, a distant look on her face. She had her one hand curled around her middle and another, tapping fingers on her mouth. "Maybe we don't need a body."
"We do. Just not yours."
Her lips curled up in an almost smile. "No, I mean…" She shook her head. "It's like, um, we need some sort of processor, yeh?" She gestured. "Like… brain."
The Doctor inhaled, his head titled. "We need a central processor unit. Something which would hold over twenty billion neurons each connected by synapses to several thousand other neurons," he spilled in one breath. Rose just stared after him for a moment.
"That's... a lot of neurons."
"Yeh," he sniffed. "Found in average human's brain. The most complex organ in a vertebrate's body." He pointed on the word with his lips.
"But... that's just it. It doesn't have to be a body." When the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, she hurried to add. "I mean, not necessarily." She uncrossed her arms, gesturing with them both. "You'd got all that stuff, maybe you have something like… um," she faltered, one finger on her temple. "I don't know… a mental box or a... consciousness incubator or something?"
"An incubator… " the Doctor whispered. Just then a light bulb clicked in his head. "Oh, yes!" he exclaimed, a full-on grin on his face.
"What, you've got such a thing?" she asked with a beaming smile on her own.
"If I can find it," he said off-handedly. "Rose Tyler," he said her name solemnly with a visible hint of affection. He then pulled her off the ground, squeezing her tightly that Rose even let out an 'omph' sound and a giggle from the suddenness of it. "Oh, I've missed you," he said to her back and then let her go. With a grin on his face, he entwined their fingers and pulled her together with him. "Come on!"
The Doctor rushed inside the TARDIS first, Rose hot on his heels. He sprinted up the ramp in just a few strides and pressed a few, only known to him alone, buttons and was already demanding attention.
"Rose."
She quickly joined by his side and stared at the monitor, once again showing the same line, which assumingly showed the 'model matter' for his timeline.
"Keep looking for any changes," he instructed her while he himself pulled some sort of cable from underneath the console and began walking with it towards the hallway. "If it starts blinking again, changing color..." He span the cable around, gathering it together. "If it gets to mauve, call me out." He stopped, looking distant. "Mauve is a universal-"
"Color for danger," Rose cut in. "Yeh, I know." She laughed.
His eyebrows rose as he inhaled. "Right." In a few more spins, he had the cable ready. "There we go then." He grinned at it and started jogging away. Just before disappearing, he spun around, bouncing on his feet. "Keep position! I'll be back in a sec." He pointed and went off.
It was really not that surprising but it barely took a few minutes for the monitor to blink on all kind of shades of 'mauve'.
"Doctor?" she called out but heard no answer back. Typical. She pondered on going after him but then again, she had a finger on one of the controls and who knew what it actually did. Or wouldn't do if she let it go.
She looked around for something to replace her digit but there seemed to be nothing. At last her gaze fell upon a crack in the grating, which the Doctor forgot to close. And there, stuck at one side were pliers.
She bit her lower lip. "Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it…" she started muttering as her fingers twitched in place.
Another blip of a heavy 'mauve' in the screen, another, loud enough to ring in her own ears, 'Doctor!' and she bent down. Well, as much as was possible in her current position. It took a few pulls and the pliers were off. She considered it in her hands but then with a deep breath pressed the tips of it by one of the cables in the grating.
"Please don't be life threatening," she said and closed her eyes the same time the pliers cut off the cable in half.
At once Rose was thrown out of balance, almost flying off, but she somehow managed to keep the finger (which still held the button on the console) intact. No later, the console started ringing bells, ones she only heard just after the Doctor regenerated.
She stared at the sight. "Well, that should take his attention," she muttered with an anxious look.
Just as expected the Doctor came rushing in, a heavy, black box in his arms. He looked panicked, checking for the cause of the bells. "What happened?" He put the object on the ground and looked around. His eyes fell upon Rose's hand.
"What do you have pliers in hand for?" he exclaimed. His eyes then widened. "Hold on. Did you cut the cable?!" he cried.
"Well you weren't responding and it's 'mauve'," Rose shot back, gesturing to the screen. The Doctor at once was at her side, removing her finger from the button and pressing various himself.
"Will it…" Rose began, swallowing. "Will it cause damage?"
"What?" the Doctor asked absentmindedly.
"The cable. The one I cut off."
"Nah, she's programmed on auto-regenerating. Always ready to regrow her parts, in case needed." Rose just stared agape at him. The Doctor turned swiftly to look at her. "And don't go on telling people that! They don't need to know that. It's still not for anyone to play around."
Rose blinked a few times. "But… it went off; ringing bells and all."
"Well, it still hurts to be cut in half! What do you take her for? No-feelings-creature? She's sentient. All those feelings rushing about…"
"Ok-ay." Rose trailed off. She looked behind her shoulder. "So you've got the thing we need, then?"
"Yup," the Doctor agreed, flipping a few switches. "Tucked below a few hundred of history." He then pulled the lever, making the alarms silence down. With a few hops, he reached the 'incubator', gathered it in his arms and started moving towards the doors, Rose close behind.
The two were walking down the roads, Rose continuing to access the thing in the Doctor's grip. "So how's it gonna work?"
"Weell… just press this button here…" He lifted one side a bit to indicate it.
"What, this?" she asked, her finger hovering about a big, red button.
"Yeh, yeh, that. Just don't press it now." He smiled sheepishly at her.
Rose withdrawn her hand. "So one-button system, yeh? Got it." She nodded, serious expression on her face.
"Rose, I'll take care of it. You don't need to worry about it."
"Well, you can never be too sure with you," she sang under her teeth.
"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed.
Rose laughed softly, smiling with tongue-between-her-teeth smile afterwards. "I'm just trying to always be prepared, you know."
The Doctor sniffed, feigning feeling put-out. He went off ahead only to stop in his tracks.
She looked up to see what the Doctor had his attention focused on. Bright, red light was coming out of the window in one of the houses. The house belonging to Trish.
"Is that the lighting?" she asked. She then took in the shade of the color and movement, comprehension dawning on her just as the Doctor muttered, "It's the dad."
"Come on," Rose urged him and both went off.
They had to stop when the doors remained shut after Rose tried to open them.
"Left pocket," the Doctor said in a hurry. Rose rushed to him and took the sonic screwdriver from him, pressing the button and aiming it towards the doors to open up.
Once that done, she went in first, leaving the doors wide open for the Doctor to squeeze in with the big lump he was carrying.
They climbed up the stairs to a brightly red lit room and two humans cuddling each other in fear.
"What're you doing here again?!" Trish demanded indignantly.
"Wee…came back with the solution. Here. Look!" The Doctor lifted the incubator a bit to indicate its existence.
"CHLOEEE!" the voice echoed from within the rattling wardrobe doors.
"Doctor, the wardrobe," Rose said urgently.
"Right. The nightmare-dad." The Doctor stepped in more inside the room to settle the 'incubator' first. Just as he was spinning around to tell instructions, Rose was already at Trish's side.
"Listen, you've got to sing, okay? Just like you always sing for her to chase away the nightmares."
Trish's look of anxiety was soon replaced by suspicion, directed at Rose. "How do you know about Chloe's dad? Who are you, people?" She glanced around to look at the Doctor.
"We're help," the Doctor said but then stopped. "But hold on." He shook his head and turned to Rose. "How on Earth do you know about 'singing'"? he cried in disbelief.
Rose blinked a few times. "W-what?"
The Doctor opened his mouth when another, stronger rattle of the wardrobe doors echoed inside the room.
He looked up sharply at the doors then back at the two on the bed. Chloe convulsing in tremors of fear. "Trish, you've got to sing. Now!" he commanded and that seemed to shake the woman into action.
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he..."
"Chloe... Chloe..."
"Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be."
As Trish kept on singing, the banging and the voice eventually faded away.
"Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be," she sang softly now, cradling Chloe's sleeping body.
"It's the first time she sleeps in days," Trish said through tears.
"And there'll be many more of that," the Doctor reassured her and went to buzz the sonic against the device.
"You said there was no way to help," Trish said, watching him warily.
The Doctor fiddled with the sonic's settings. "I found a way," he said in a low voice. The 'incubator' whined in protest.
"Is it broken?" Rose asked from the sidelines.
"No, it's fine. Just need to readjust a few settings and we'll be good to go. Rose? I need you here." He put the sonic in her hand and instructed her what to do while he went to stand near Trish, who looked up sharply at him.
"I know you don't trust me but you don't have a choice," he began. "All the things you've seen, nobody else is gonna believe you. And nobody else is here to help." He took a breath in. "But me."
Trish stared him down.
"You've got to trust me. I'll do everything I can to bring Chloe back."
After a bit, Trish nodded. The Doctor smiled faintly at her. He then turned to walk away but his eyes caught on the desk.
Curiosity taking over, he went over the table where a pile of drawings were scattered about. He rummaged through a few until his eye fell upon the one he was searching for. His eyes almost bugged out of its sockets. The Doctor was standing on the edge of the paper; one hand tucked inside his pocket, another outstreched with a pointed finger. It going as follows – The Doctor – a pink rose – white flower(Isolus).
"Is he insane?!" the Doctor exclaimed, his brows furrowed deeply.
Rose's head perked up at his outburst. "What's that?"
The Doctor swallowed, leaving his eyes on the paper. "A drawing."
"Is that the Doctor's drawing? What's it say?"
The Doctor clenched his teeth, gathering himself. With a raised brow, he inhaled. "It says... that he's gone mad." He folded the paper in two and tucked it inside his breast pocket, walking back to the incubator. Rose eyed him suspiciously.
After a handful of arguments and a few dozen attempts on making it work, Rose was first to crack.
"Is this thing even meant for humans?"
"What? Of course it is!" the Doctor exclaimed at once.
"Doctor," Rose said warningly. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably, bringing his hand to brush against the back of his neck.
"Well... originally it was meant for the Mertians from the Grand Cove."
"And how similar are they to humans?"
"Oh, very." He swatted his hand away in a dismissive gesture. "Couldn't tell the different, really. Almost spot-on. "
"Riiight," Rose stressed the word, not believing in the least. "Like with dark red-ish skin and... sharpened claws. That similar?"
"Claws?" The Doctor crunched his face in distaste. "Why would they have claws?!" he cried. "I can tell you, they're pretty normal. Very humanoid... ish, in fact. Just they have this... well, tail and... err... three eyes?" he ended in a faint whisper, looking sheepish.
"Are you trying an illegal experiment on my daughter?!" Previously only observing the pair, Trish finally exclaimed, standing tall above them crouched below.
"What? No no no!" The Doctor held his hands in surrender. "I know... I'm aware of exactly what am I doing. This could work!" He pointed at the ‚incubator' sharply.
Just then, at his words, the incubator began blinking on red alert, gaining the Doctor's attention again. "No." The Doctor snatched the sonic screwdriver from Rose's grip and started 'bleeping' the thing. It giving no results. "No no no. Come on, come on!" he urged it to work but in the last attempt it released a spark. The Doctor's eyes widened at once. "Careful!" he cried and lunged for Rose. The 'uncubator' giving off a mini explosion.
"Uff," Rose breathed out, her eyes still closed, back on the ground beneath the Doctor. The Doctor propped himself on one elbow, checking up on Rose. "All right?" he asked in worry.
She blinked open her eyes. "Yeh, yeh, I am."
"Fire!" a loud shout echoed in their ears. The Doctor spun his head and saw the metal box in small flames. He briskly stood up, gathered the first at hand duvet and extinguished the flames.
He took Rose's one hand to assist her in standing up. The pair and the mother staring at the blackened duvet.
Rose bent down carefully to lift the material. It fell on the ground, showing what was left of the 'incubator'.
"Well, that didn't work out well," the Doctor exhaled. Rose took a moment to take it in.
"I want you two out of my house."
The pair spun around to find a furious look on Trish's face. "Right now!"
Rose crept slowly towards the woman. "Trish, you don't understand…"
"Oh, I understand. That was the thing that had to help my daughter, isn't it? Now it's gone. So what's left? You don't want to help that other way."
The Doctor felt his blood run hot. "That 'other way' is putting another life in danger," he said through clenched teeth.
Rose put a reassuring hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "You don't have to worry," she addressed Trish. "We'll do it now."
The Doctor turned to face her, eyes wide-open. "Rose."
"There's no other way. We've got to do it."
The Doctor shook his head. "No. There's gotta be another way."
"Doctor..." She placed her hand on his, rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. The Doctor's eyes followed the gesture. "It's going to be fine. You're going to help me through it." The Doctor's forehead wrinkled in worry.
She swallowed. "The drawing... Isn't this what the Doctor told you to do as well?" she asked softly.
The Doctor finally met her eyes and let out a shuddering sigh.
"All right."
Rose's face twisted into a beaming smile at once. "There we're then. That's what I talked about. Good ol' team."
The Doctor didn't appear to share the same enthusiasm but the fact that he led her towards the bed and sat her down was an improvement. He leveled her with a look.
She reached out once again to place her palm on the back of his hand and squeeze a bit in reassurance. The Doctor cleared his throat.
"Right. I'll have to access your mind to put you into trance. It's not going to hurt, just... keep it open for me. All right?"
She smiled warmly. "Yeh."
He nodded stiffly and raised his fingers on her temples. He spared her one last look and closed his eyes, making Rose close hers.
Trish watched how the Doctor's brows furrowed at one moment, then he lowered the girl on the bed and his eyes flew open. At first he was very still. Not moving at all. From the spot she was standing it was difficult to see his face, so she moved around a bit to prompt him. She blinked a few times when he saw his complete look of horror. Frozen in time.
"You all right?" she asked unsure. The Doctor blinked a few times, caught off guard and turned to look at her. "Wh-what?" he sputtered.
"Are you all right? She asked again.
"I..." his voice faltered with his words for a moment. But just as quickly he shook his head, pressed his eyes close, seemingly gathering himself and when they opened again he had the look of full concentration. He scooted himself towards Chloe, repeating the process of drawing the consciousness out. It took only a moment for Chloe's mouth to open up and a white flower, staggeringly float in the air. It struggled a bit but then went inside Rose, gaining a sharp intake of breath from her.
A gasp of air escaped Chloe, her eyes fluttering open. "Mum?"
Trish at once gathered the girl in her arms. "Oh, Chloe! I'm here."
The Doctor stood up, crossing the room to gather his left behind sonic screwdriver and turned to look at the rocking pair on the bed.
"Right," he spoke out loud to take their attention. Trish looked up. „So she'll be out for a few minutes. Once she wakes up, she might start drawing again. Let her but talk her out to keep drawing toys. In any way, Isolus is still a kid."
"Where're you going?"
"I need to finish what's started," he said.
His hand was on the door knob when the voice called him out. He turned. "Thank you. For saving my girl."
The Doctor pressed his lips in a thin line. "Keep an eye on her," he instructed and went off.
His hearts were pounding wildly inside his chest as he belt down the stairs, the doors flying open.
He wished it being the cause of running.
It was one of the first lessons he learned in the Academy. How to discern your own mind from the other's. Every telepathic being had a different pattern, like a footprint they left behind after passing through someone's mind.
He never thought to find his own pattern in Rose's mind.
His mind was still concerned about the latest discovery but once he was outside the house, he put all things in the back of his mind. Firstly, he had to find the pod.
Last time he checked, it was somewhere in the street. Now he only needed to find where exactly in the street. He looked around and then spotted someone with a uniform crouched down by the road. He sprinted towards him.
"Hey, do you know anyone with information on roads down here?"
"Well, you've just got him." He spun around to stand. "Oh, it's you! How's Olympics going for you, mate?"
The Doctor blinked in confusion. "Sorry? Have we met?"
"Of course we met! Kel, remember me? We met just a few hours ago. With that blonde beside you."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Right, yeh. Sorry."
"Everything all right?"
"Yeeh… straight to business. You're the greatest expert of tarmac in this area, aren't you, Kel?"
„Well, I try my best. All for the Olympics. Look at this finish." He crouched down to follow its path with his fingertips. "Smooth as a baby's bottom. Not a bump or a lump."
"Great. I'm sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry, can you just-" the Doctor tried interrupting him but Kel seemed not to notice.
"I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship I did this one!"
„Yeeh, well. When you've worked it out, be sure to put it in a universal encyclopedia of tarmacking, but now, back to business."
„Business. Okay. What're we doing business about?"
"I need to know which place down here emits the most amount of heat."
"Well, that would be this pothole, ain't it?" Kel gestured at the spot on the road. "Since the first time I was laying it."
"Hot fresh tar… of course!" the Doctor jumped up and crouched down to scan the area with his sonic screwdriver. As a blue light started shining out from the device, Kel perked up.
"Hey hey, be careful with that. I just made it beautiful again."
"Don't worry. I'm just making a few adjustments. All for the sake of Olympics."
"Oh, okay then." Kel relented until he saw the tarmac melting before his own eyes. "Whoa! Wait a… wait a minute, hold on, what in the world had you just done!?" Kel exclaimed. "I'm reporting you to the council!"
"Don't bother. I've been the president once."
"What? But… I don't remember you."
"You wouldn't. Thanks, Kel." The Doctor patted the boy on the shoulder casually. "I'll be taking this." He gestured to the thing in hand.
"What is it?" Kel cried out in desperation.
"A spaceship. And not a council spaceship, I'm afraid."
The Doctor jogged down the road. He stopped when a barrier of people, gathered to cheer for the passing through torch bearer, prevent him to go any further. He tried squeezing through to the front but the crowd kept pushing him back.
Just then, Kel caught up with him. "Look, I don't care if you've got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don't go melting up-„
"Look, any chance you can do this later?" the Doctor rudely cut him short. Kel only blinked repeatedly at this.
"I need to get to that torch."
"The Olympic torch you mean? What for?" Kel asked, confused.
The Doctor shook his head in concentration. He absentmindedly got his hand in his pocket to take out the spaceship. "This thing is dying. It needs heat and love to keep on living."
"So you pass it on towards the Olympic torch and it's good to go once again?"
"Yeh," the Doctor agreed, putting the pod back inside.
Kel laughed. "Well, good luck with that, mate, no police officer is gonna let you anywhere near that thing."
"A police officer," the Doctor whispered. Then a grin spread across his face.
Kel was watching the cheering crowd when a familiar voice reached his ears.
"I need... I need everyone's attention here!" the Doctor shouted out. A few, standing in the last line turned around. "Yeh, you! I need you to step aside."
The people only eyed him suspiciously. "What the hell's he doing right now?" Kel muttered in disbelief.
Soon enough, a police officer approached the Doctor. "Sorry, you can't do that. You'll have to watch from here."
"I need to pass through," the Doctor insisted.
"Sorry, only the police got the allowance there."
"Yeh? Well, I am a police officer. I've got a badge." He rummaged through his pockets and showed the psychic paper in his face. "Look! See?"
The man stared at the object.
The Doctor saw how the man, carrying the torch, passed just right past them.
"I'm the police. And I say I have to get through. Any objections?" he said in a hurry.
"No, no, sir," the police man relented and whistled to take people's attention. Making them make way. The Doctor rushed past the crowd at once, Kel hot on his heels.
"I thought you were supposed to be a council president," he muttered once they were surrounded by the crowd, not outside it any longer.
"Ex-president. Now I'm a police officer," the Doctor replied off-handedly. He then took the spaceship from his pocket and saw it squirm inside his palm. He grinned at the sight.
"Go on, you. Go back home," he said warmly and took aim to toss it towards the torch. It span around in air, drawn to the torch. The torch bearer staggered slightly as it fell into the flames, but quickly dismissed it, carrying on.
"You did it!" Kel exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeh." The Doctor smiled. He turned around when he felt something brush right through his cheek, flying at high speed. Just before it disappeared in flames, the Doctor saw the tiny Isolus flying in.
The Doctor spared himself a moment to sigh in relief before he sprinted down the road, back towards the house, towards Rose.
"Oh, you keep doing this. I can't keep up," Kel muttered under his breath.
"Come on! If you're coming," the Doctor's voice rang out through the street and it was all the prompting Kel needed. He hurried after him.
The Doctor came to a faltering stop, looking up towards the window which was flashing red in light.
"What's that then? Is that decoration?" Kel asked from the side.
The Doctor pushed himself at the doors, picking on the knob but it was not moving. He banged on the doors sharply.
"Trish? Open up! Trish?"
"I can't! The door's stuck!" she replied, her voice trembling with fear.
The Doctor stepped back, pulled the sonic out and bleeped them open. Then put the sonic back inside his pocket. The doors swung open and a pair tumbled out from the inside.
"How d'you do that?" Kel asked, impressed. „What's that thing?"
"Olympic magic," the Doctor dismissed him, his full attention on Trish. „Where's Rose?"
Trish stammered for words. "I... I don't know."
"I told you to keep an eye on her!" he exclaimed.
Trish looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Last I checked she was still sleeping."
The Doctor nodded, circling his tongue inside his mouth. "No, you just can't do what I tell you to."
The Doctor perked his head inside, saw the flashes of red going from the upstairs and got back outside.
"Right. Now, you've got to listen to me very carefully," he began in a grave voice, looking at the trio. "There's only one weapon in the world that can stop him. It's your bond. The singing." He looked pointedly at Trish, who clutched Chloe closer to her. "I'll go inside. You stay here. But you've got to keep singing. You got that?" he asked sharply.
Trish nodded energetically. "Yeh, yeh."
"Okay. You can start now." He then turned to Kel, who looked up. "And you… you can join in the chorus," he said and turned to walk back inside.
"But I don't know words!" Kel called out.
"Then learn!"
The Doctor closed the doors after him and locked them with the sonic. He could hear the beginning of the words.
"... merry merry king of the bush is he..."
He climbed up the stairs, a few at time, and flew the doors open to the brightly lit room. He bleeped the sonic at the imagine of Chloe's dad, momentary fazing him.
Gaining the upper hand, he then went further inside the room just to spot Rose, slumped inside the chair, on the table. It took a moment, when he just froze in place. The imagine too haunting and real for him. He swallowed tightly and finally willed his legs to move. With each step his steps grew quicker until with the last hop he crouched down beside her.
With a trembling hand, he reached out towards her pulse. It felt like an electric impulse inside him, forcing his hearts to beat once more when he felt the steady pulse against his fingertips. All the energy seemed to go out of him as he fell down on his knees, resting his forehead against his arm on the chair. He breathed in and out to calm himself down.
His calm was short lived, though. He was suddenly pulled out of it by a strong force of wind, throwing him right at the window sill. He winced at the move.
Suddenly the window flew open and the rush of air gained form of that of an angry red face. The Doctor clenched his teeth, bringing his arms to gain leverage against the window.
He tried to get a hold of his sonic once more but just as he had it, the force that surrounded his throat, nearly chocked him and thus made the Doctor drop the thing on the ground below.
A couple of gasps echoed from somewhere below. The Doctor tried to gain enough hold of his voice to wheeze out. "Keep..singing!"
"Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be."
As their voices became stronger, the evil dad's became weaker and weaker. His shadow finally started to retreat, the light fading out. He roared with anger one last time and went silent.
The Doctor stared at the doors of the wardrobe, coming short in air, but just so happy to get it finally done and over with.
Rose rolled her head to the side as she came out of it with a pang of a headache. She frowned at that, reaching out for her temple. She blinked a few times, her eyes registering the gentle yellow, a hum all too familiar to ears and a shade of blue fabric in her vision.
"Welcome to the land of living," an amused voice reached her ears. She made an effort to give him a look. "How're you feeling?" he asked, now in a concern-full voice.
She sighed and slowly sat up in the jump seat more properly. "I'll be fine. Just… a massive headache." Her hand fell on her lap.
"I'm inside the TARDIS," she stated with a frown.
"Yeh."
"But that's not... this's your TARDIS, isn't it? What about the Doctor?" she asked in an urgent voice.
"Oh, don't worry. He's just off doing a bit of community service. He'll appear soon," the Doctor replied off-handedly and spun around to face her. He seemed to be struggling with getting the words out.
"I wanted to check something before you leave... I've done a few tests. I hope you don't mind," he spilled in one breath. "But I can't find the cause."
"The cause of what?"
He flipped the last switch and with a sigh came to sit beside her. He rubbed his face in his palms.
"Doctor? What is it?"
"When I was inside your head... I saw something," he said in a low voice.
She swallowed tightly. "Saw what?"
"You know that I'm telepathic being, of course you know that, and my kind... Well, the all 'telepathic kind'… when we try to walk through someone's head, we leave… a track."
"A track?"
"Yeh. It's like a kind of pattern, left behind by one's mind."
"Ok-ay." Rose nodded. "And what d'you see?"
He exhaled deeply. "I saw my pattern. Recent one too." He waited for the coin to drop or any kind of reaction, really, but Rose only blinked at him like asking him 'what's the big deal?'. He knit his brows together.
"Rose, I've been inside your head. Before today," he pointed the word to get her to understand. She only stared him down.
"I know that," she simply said.
"You what?" he exclaimed.
"Doctor, it's only been like, what… a day? After we left Impossible Planet and you got inside my head to check everything out. If you wanted to check if I don't have a brain damage…"
"What? And...a day?!" he cried. "But that can't be! What about... what about Absorbaloff and... and your mother. Jackie! Meeting that bloke with a funny last name. What was it again?"
"Pope."
"Right. That. He can't just have disappeared!"
"Yeh. You... well, the other you." She smiled sheepishly at him. "Anyway, you said there was a disturbance in the timeline too. He tried to find the reason we skipped ahead in the timeline."
"Hold on hold on." The Doctor held his both hands up to stop the movement and abruptly stood up from the chair. "You spoke with... me about this?"
"Yeh," Rose agreed. She then considered him warily. "Why? What's wrong?"
"But you can't know that!" he exclaimed.
"Know what?" Rose shook her head in confusion.
"If it hadn't happened in your timeline how can you know it's missing?"
Rose blinked. "Well, it only didn't happen in this timeline, yeh? Not in the previous," she sang with a smile on her face, in hopes to bring one from him. The Doctor didn't smile back. If what, his face only got a more terrified look than before.
"What?!"
"W-what?" Rose stammered. "Doctor, what's going on?"
"How do you know all this?" the Doctor asked in desperation. "And what does 'previous timeline' mean?" he cried in urgency which was rarely seen.
"Doctor, what-," Rose began but then stopped. A realization coming upon her. "Oh."
"'Oh' what?!" the Doctor exclaimed, getting more worked up by the second.
"I think we need to find the Doctor."
The Doctor and Rose were watching the computer screen, which was displaying Gallifreyan symbols for the past ten minutes now but any word was yet to come out the Doctor's mouth.
"Anything?" Rose finally asked, looking side-ways at the Doctor's profile. He had his forehead wrinkled in thought.
"Nothing!" he exclaimed in a whisper. "Just plain... nothing. I don't get it. Is he hiding?"
"How d'you mean hiding? Like... from us?"
"I don't know."
"That doesn't make sense," Rose persisted. "Why would he hide from us?"
"I..." the Doctor trailed off, inhaling. "Haven't the foggiest. But he's nowhere in the map. Only my TARDIS is seen." He stared at the screen. "You sure you don't want to tell me about it on your own?"
"Nah, I'll let the Doctor explain it to you."
"All right then," he agreed.
"So, what do we do then?" she asked softly.
"Wee-„he started but cut himself short. The readings on the screen made him pause. "Oh."
"What is it? What's it say?"
"Take a look at this." The Doctor flipped a few switches and a view of the camera was shown.
"That's... the TARDIS," Rose deadpanned. A full imagine of the console room was all that was seen on the monitor. "Why's the camera showing the inside of the TARDIS?"
"It's not the inside," the Doctor muttered.
"What?" Rose asked softly, brows furrowed.
Suddenly the doors flew open and to Rose's surprise the Doctor, her Doctor, all brown suit and Janis Joplin coat, came storming in.
"Oh, I've missed that trick!" he exclaimed in full delight, seemingly happy with himself. "Didn't know if it'd still work."
Rose beamed at his image. "Doctor!" Rose exclaimed. It took only a moment for their eyes to meet and matching grins to spread across their faces. Rose ran down the ramp, towards him, the Doctor taking a few rushed steps inside and swept her off her feet in a tight hug.
They both giggled from sheer joy to finally be reunited. The Doctor clutching her tightly to his body, leaving a soft brush of lips against her temple.
With the last desperate squeeze, he let her down on the ground, swiping a few strands of hair off her face, all the while smiling widely at her. "Rose Tyler. I've gotta give it to ya. Disappearing out of thin air? That seems like a new skill."
Rose laughed softly. "Oh, you know. A Doctor in trouble – couldn't leave it."
"Yeeh," an echo of the Doctor's voice reached their ears. "Speaking of trouble, what did you use the homing device for?"
Rose spun around to watch the Doctor by the console, then looked back at the one by her side. "Homing device?"
He sniffed. "Couldn't take the risk of you running off again."
The Doctor's by the console eyes narrowed. "I wasn't planning to."
"No?" the brown-Doctor asked nonchalantly. "Good. That's good then." He nodded.
"Doctor?" Rose asked the brown-Doctor in a soft voice. The Doctor blinked and turned his head to look down to her.
"I think I found the cause of the disturbance in the timeline."
A stretching grin appeared on his face. "Yeh? How did you do that then?"
Rose braced herself, swallowing. "Well..."
"It can't be," the blue-Doctor shook his head, his eyes staying wide-open still. Since the moment he heard the impossible coming from his own very mouth. "It's impossible."
"Oh, we love the impossible, don't we?" the Doctor in brown spoke with ease in his voice.
Million thoughts seemed to pass down the Doctor's in blue features. He would open his mouth time and time again, ready to ask the question, only to pull back at the last moment. Everything seemed just that bit out of his 'accepted rules' spectrum.
"All right," he started in a wary voice. "I'll accept the fact of you living the timeline again. But she can't be doing that!" He pointed rudely at Rose. "That would make her-" he faltered, swallowing the words.
"Not human?" Rose added in, both of the Doctors' eyes shooting to meet her. "I still appear human on every normal species scan."
"Normal?!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Then what about the TARDIS? What does the TARDIS scan say?"
The Doctor in brown and Rose glanced at each other, shifting uneasily. The Doctor cracked first. "I... didn't check yet."
"You what?" the other Doctor exclaimed once more.
"I will check!" the brown-Doctor raised his hands in the air, surrendering.
"Like when?"
"When I feel comfortable about it," Rose cut in, making the blue-Doctor stop with his mouth still half-open.
He swallowed. "Rose-"
"I'm not in a life-threatening danger, yeh? I know. 'Cos I lived the year and I'm still standing here. And I can think for myself when I want to change my status from human to something more... alien."
"Rose, that's not…" the Doctor began but Rose interrupted him again.
"I know," she said softly, nodding. "But just let us handle this, all right? When you'll be in his shoes, you'll be able to make all those decisions, but now." She inhaled. "We lived over a year more, Doctor. We know what're doing. So, just… trust us, yeh?"
The Doctor pressed his lips together and nodded. "All right."
With a grateful smile Rose approached him and enveloped him in a firm hug. His hands at once went around her middle, taking her in. He closed his eyes, grateful for the momentary peace.
The pair separated, Rose giving him a beaming smile, provoking one from the Doctor himself. "I'll see you later, yeh?" she asked. Something in his chest constricted. Part of him just wanted to grab hold of her and never let go. Just stay like that forever. It'd be, after all, a much better fate than the one he had ahead for himself. But he couldn't. She was not his anymore. And never will be. So he just smiled faintly at her. "Yeh."
She gave him one last smile and went towards the doors where the Doctor in brown stood, she gave him one squeeze on the shoulder and pushed the doors open only to stop with a gasp.
"W-what?" she looked agape at the sight ahead. "Wh-what's going on? Doctor?" She looked anxiously at her Doctor who only chuckled at her.
"Homin device. I put my Tardis inside his. Basically, the TARDIS inside the TARDIS which is inside the TARDIS."
Rose only looked at him, lost at words. He laughed good-naturedly at her and playfully pushed her inside.
"Go on, then. Settle down. I'll be back in a tick. Just let me have a quick last word with… myself. Meh, never a pleasant thing to do. But oh well. Needs must."
Rose finally relaxed enough to let out a soft laugh. "Don't kill yourself." She pointed playfully at him and went inside their own TARDIS, missing the two Doctors tensing at her words.
The pair stood in silence for a moment until their eyes met and the Doctor in blue wordlessly stepped aside, letting the brown-Doctor take his place.
"The homing device?" the blue-Doctor asked.
"I didn't lock it," the brown-Doctor said and pulled on a few switches, working around the controls.
He hated himself for what he was forced about to do, but he hated the universe even more, for being responsible for it.
The last flip of the switch pulled him out of trance he seemingly got himself into. The Doctor rested his both hands on the console, his gaze unfocused. Everything around them was silent, only the sound of the time rotor in the background.
"Is it scary?" he finally asked in a barely heard whisper.
"Not as much with the knowledge," the other Doctor admitted, making his incarnation cast his eyes downwards. "Don't tell her. Don't let her grieve," he continued.
"I know," the brown-Doctor whispered, fidgeting with the buttons on the console.
"Just do everything in order to keep her." The blue-Doctor raised his hand. It wavered a little but after a few hesitant seconds finally landed on his other self's shoulder, squeezing it.
"I should be the one giving comfort," the Doctor chuckled, his voice catching. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
"There's nothing you could do. I just... can't stay."
They stayed like that, in a haunting silence until a sharp intake of breath echoed inside the console room. "No. In fact, there is."
The blue-Doctor furrowed his brows as his incarnation span around to face him, a new kind of determined look on him.
"Tell her," the brown-Doctor said.
"Don't," blue-Doctor began in a warning. "We agreed-" he started protesting, but the other Doctor cut him off.
"Not about this." He frowned at him.
"Then what?!"
"You know what," the Doctor simply said, staring him down, daring him to deny to know what laid deeply in his hearts.
"I..." He swallowed. „I can't."
"Yes, you can. I already told her everything I wanted. Now it's your turn."
The Doctor's brows rose in wonder. "You told her?"
He contemplated on taunting him that it had already been over a year and it would be foolish of him not to take that chance but he knew himself better. And a year more or two didn't really mean anything if he decided against something. So he only settled down with a simple "Yes."
Rose was pacing around the console room when the doors opened up and Rose greeted the man with a wide smile. "Here you are then!" She rushed to his side only to stop in place. "Hang on. It's you!"
"Still me." The Doctor agreed, giving her a warm smile.
"What happened? I thought you'd be... gone by now. Did something go wrong?"
He chuckled silently. "No. No. I just... well, I remembered there was something I haven't finished yet."
Rose felt her heart thud inside her chest. "What is it?" she asked softly, looking him deeply in the eyes.
"Back on Bad Wolf Bay," he started solemnly, taking step after step towards her until he was a breath away from her. "I never really had the chance to finish what I was saying." He laughed at the irony they both knew that day held.
She smiled faintly. "A-and you'd want to... right now?" she asked, biting her lower lip in anticipation.
"Well..." the Doctor began nonchalantly, sniffing. "I thought I could try." He then looked up more seriously at her. "If you want me to," he ended with a timid smile. An expression rarely shown by the Doctor.
"Yeh!" Rose exclaimed eagerly, then smiled sheepishly at her own outburst. "I mean..." She swallowed. "Yeh, go ahead."
He smiled tenderly at her and reached out to cup her cheek. He exhaled deeply in relief. From all the hundreds of years he had lived, all across the universe, just this second alone meant more to him than any other. His last moment with his beloved. "I love you, Rose. More than I ever should. Or you'll ever know," he whispered, bringing his forehead to hers.
"I love you too," Rose whispered back, tears already gathering in her eyes. "And if I won't know... you just have to keep on telling me, yeh?" she laughed through watery eyes, a few drops already on her cheeks. The Doctor swiped them away with his thumb.
"Quite right too."
The moment the brown-Doctor stepped back inside his own TARDIS, he was met by a tearful Rose. He quickly gathered her in his arms, clutching her to him and was just grateful that it was not the same thing they shared tears about.
to be continued... I can hardly believe... Doom 's Day! Yep, yep, guys, we reached it! Well... almost. At the door step at least!
So! I'm beyond eager to hear all your thoughts. And, also, I'm aware that were lots of stuff in this Arc which might create questions. I'd really like to hear firstly what you thought about it, but if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Below are the Q&A for this Arc:
Is the blue-Doctor from the original timeline? Yes.
What happened to the blue-Doctor at the end? He blinked out of existence. (hint words: brown-Doctor-„Is it scary?" ; blue-Doctor-"Don't let her grieve." ; blue-Doctor-"I just... can't stay."; brown-Doctor- He hated himself for what he was forced to do) but he's not dead, per se. (hint words: Rose-"Don't kill yourself!") He blinked out of existence. Why is that? Well, in complete logic, the blue-Doctor came into this 'reset timeline' by mistake. He's someone who wears blue suit, so he's somewhere past the Daleks in S3. Now, the 'new timeline' is a wholly new thing. It started at 2005 as a new being and its Peak is the present. Like, Fear Her Arc is as much as the 'new timeline' can go right now. To the brown-Doctor and Rose, the 'previous timeline' only serves as a memory. Something they can't get into but still remember. So. The blue-Doctor doesn't really have Anywhere to go back to. And the brown-Doctor had to 'help him disappear'.
What happened to Absorbaloff? Because the original and reset timelines collided, the Love&Monsters still happened from the universe's point of view.