Ha! I bet you didn't see me updating now. Yeh, me neither. Right, then. So summary as I've promised is just bellow. I also want to squuuueeze everyone out there who have been supporting me and still are, even after all this time. It's a huge thing. For real. Yeeh... and welcoming me back. Yay, it's so good to be back to writing. I missed it so much! Anyway, enjoy the beginning of finally Doomsday arc.
summary-sort-of
-Jabe scans Rose as non-human. Rose holds lever instead of her. Golden light heals her.
-Rose asks the Doctor to have faith (regarding Gelth being bad news) in her but he's unable to do so. Rose takes Gelth upon herself instead of Gwyneth but she still dies, causing Rose grief. The Doctor apologizes and promises to have faith in her.
-The Doctor and Rose save the piggy (Aliens of London/World War Tree).
-Rose holds her hand down on the Dalek until golden light starts to heal her. She's caught as an 'alien'. The Dalek kills itself to protect Rose. They do not take Adam.
- Rose and the Doctor have a chips-date on Satellite Five. Suki doesn't get promoted but after coming to floor 500 with the gang, still dies.
-Rose says her goodbyes to her dad. No reapers.
- Rose goes to meet Jack by barrage balloon.
- Algy and Jack had a row, so Jack refuses to distract him. The Doctor comes in and Rose rushes in to stop him, getting touched, becoming the 'Are you my mummy?' Everybody lives! Jack joins them. Dancing with Jimbo (the piggy).
-Mickey trying to win Rose back. He freaks out on seeing Jimbo. They chase the Slitheen until Mickey throws a bucket to her legs, proving himself. Rose and Mickey have a painful post-break-up break up. Mickey leaves. Rose tells bits and pieces, hinting Jack of her situation (repeating timeline).
-They're chased in Japan 'cos of Jimbo. Inside the games, Rose wins hers, so doesn't get killed. Jimbo appears to have canines, that's how he won in gladiator fight in the games. The Daleks locate them, pulling them into their ship.
- Rose's having a hard time accepting the inevitable fate of the Doctor regenerating. Jimbo goes all 'trained soldier' and leaves with the others to fight. Jack tell his goodbye, believing he dies there. The Doctor makes Rose go inside the TARDIS. At the last moment Rose decides to tell him something important but then the lone Dalek comes in and she materializes, shot by it in the chest, leaving the Doctor stare at nothingness. Rose wakes up at Henrick's once again. But meets the tenth. She then wakes up as Bad Wolf, saves the Doctor and Jack, but Jimbo is dead. Regeneration.
-Rose burst in tears at seeing him, hugs him, they hop around till they decide to visit Jackie. Problems with regeneration. Rose asks Jackie for tea but she says she got none. She goes with Mickey. They split up - Mickey in cab with tea, Rose distracting a few Santas, hiding in a tree. The Doctor wakes up, saves Jackie and Mickey. Faints again until Jackie forces the tea mug at him. He phones Rose, but looses signal and goes after her.
-They meet on Sycorax spaceship. The Doctor defends Earth. Rose manages to pursue Harriet to cease the attack, Sycorax not blown away. The Doctor joining them for Christmas dinner. The Doctor makes real snow instead of ash.
-New Earth. The Doctor tickling Rose. Jack laying dead after being stuck on the surface of TARDIS. Rose tries CPR but the Doctor stops her and wakes Jack up. The confrontation between the Doctor and Jack, the Doctor abandoning him. Rose tells Jack that the Doctor began to inspect her, what is she. Rose and Jack meet Cassandra. Cassandra goes into Rose, strips Jack and locks him in. Jack gets out and watches how Cassandra kisses the Doctor. Jack tells the Doctor it's not Rose.
-They confront Cassandra. Cassandra gives demands. Once the Doctor cures them, Cassandra disappears into the crowd of new people. Not dying. The Doctor, Rose and Jack meet Face of Boe (him knowing about Rose's reset timeline) and later learn from Jack that he was once called Face of Boe. The Doctor tells it was Rose who gave him immortality. Jack leaves.
-The Doctor and Rose go to Ian Dury's concert. Then are thrown back to the timeline, inside a cupboard. Rose purposely gets caught to free the others and sends Flora to give the Doctor a message.
-The cellar having advanced technology, Rose on wooden chains. The Doctor bull-fighting the wolf until Rose gets out of chains. Rose saves the guard with golden light, emitting from her eyes. The Doctor doesn't see but suspecting something not right with Rose. They stand under mistletoe - kiss. Sir Robert saved, the guard sacrificing instead.
-Rose meets Sarah Jane. Rose is quite warm to the woman. Everyone find it strange. Rose worrying that the Doctor looks more relaxed with Sarah. The Doctor tells/Sarah guesses - the Doctor fears to hear Rose's real identity. The Doctor and Rose fight, the Doctor telling Rose on her having too many secrets.
-Sarah confront Rose and she tells Sarah about reset timeline. Rose gets hit in the head while fending off Krilitanes. The Doctor having trouble with timelines in his head. Rose tells the Doctor she had a 'partner' with whom she traveled among the stars.
-Rose rotates inside France together with the Doctor. They meet Reinette. They make a bet for a dance with one of the royalty. The Doctor confuses Reinette with Rose and kisses her. The Doctor meets Jack at France. Rose goes to France, to the garden and meets King of France, hiding in a tree. She disappears on the white horse. The droids tell Rose is compatible as a spare part. Rose goes back to France, meets the King, he offers her a dance when she comes back. Reinette sees Rose inside the Doctor's head. The Doctor gets scared, shut off, avoiding Rose. She goes wandering off and the droid pushes her to France again. The pair consciously or not relive Canary Wharf. The gang thinks they lost her but then the Doctor goes crashing through the window, on a horse. The Doctor and Rose attend dance together in France. They forget about the bet.
-TARDIS crashes through the void, landing on Bad Wolf Bay. The pair consciously or not relive their last time being here. They wander off to an inn. Objects going right through matter. Once Rose goes missing, the Doctor hears about Bad Wolf Bay and goes in search of her. The place triggers his memory to unlock and he remembers.
-Catching up. Happiness. The Doctor then sees Pete's car. They send Jack to watch the scene. Back at the inn he tells them and the Doctor comes to conclusion that only their original world got their timeline rest, parallel world - didn't, so it was their 'past selves' there. They stumbled into 'past Jackie'.
-Rose goes crashing one floor down into her 'past self's' room. She heals. They do not meet. Two Mickeys meet. The hole in the sky. Universe disappearing. Invisobolius - the rabbit alien. The Doctor tells Rose he has to lock the memories down again but before that he finally tells her 'I love you', continuing from the sentence he didn't get to finish. They kiss.
-Rose chasing the Doctor down the TARDIS' corridors to touch his gelled hair. They go to see Elvis. (the Doctor, Jack and Rose, Mickey gone home). The Doctor showing jealously over Jack and Rose. Rose regarding Mr. Magpie suspiciously. Jack remembers the Doctor(with memories) entrusting Rose to him, if anything. The Doctor gets taken away by police, Rose and Jack left. Rose and Jack separate, she goes after the faceless person. The Doctor and Jack - Special Undercover Agents of the Secret Organisation. Rose gets her face taken. The Doctor is heartbroken and furious over it. The day is saved. Rose and the Doctor have a little moment in the kitchen, the Doctor pondering of his 'unrequited love' and what'ing.
-Rose tells the Doctor it was him who locked his memories down(at Impossible Planet arc). The Ood tells Rose that the beast in the pit will rise to battle against the golden sun. Scoti still dies. The Doctor goes volunteering and Rose grabs him for a kiss, sending him off.
-Rose has a go at Toby, thinking he's the Devil. After hearing shooting, the Doctor goes frantic. He then asks Rose how much memories he's locked down and she says since 'run'. Rose nearly shoots Toby. Jack dies by Ood. He comes back to life, startling others. The Doctor deciding to stay below until he finds the TARDIS. Satan says Rose is 'gonna die in battle still.' Jack gives some technical help, connecting Ood Habitation for access. They stay, fighting Ood with guns. The Doctor goes down the pit. Before falling he tries to tell Ida that he loves her (Rose) but decides against it and unlocks his memories as he falls into the pit. Rose assures the Doctor will be back when the screen shows the unmoving Doctor, in the pit. They restrain her and drag her to the rocket. The Doctor wakes up fully himself and Rose snatches Jack's vortex manipulator and goes to the Doctor.
-They learn that Satan is in fact a Time Lord, Omega, the creator of time travelling. And that he wanted Rose there for some reason. Together they shatter the vases and then go inside the TARDIS. They save Ida and Jefferson is saved too. Jack leaves the pair. At night, the Doctor goes to Rose's room and then they decide they have to get answers. He goes inside her head, sees Pete's World trying to rid of her and then he witnesses her death. He can't take it and retreats from her mind. They fall asleep together.
-The Doctor and Rose are thrown into Fear Her arc, skipping the Love&Monsters. Something wrong with the timelines. They decide to make it up as they go. They play around with banana cake and make out in the granny's kitchen. When Rose goes to solve the scribble creature, she crashes into the blue-suit Doctor. In panic, the blue-suit Doctor grabs Rose to the TARDIS. They come back once they see the brown-suit Doctor being in trouble. They proceed through the arc, the blue Doctor relishing in spending time with Rose again. When they have to get a body for Isolus to go to instead of Chloe (since she's sick and weak) the Doctor refuses it to be Rose. They have a confrontation but decide to compromise and find another way. When another way doesn't work, Rose lets Isolus in while the Doctor solves the rest of the Fear Her arc. Rose wakes up inside the blue Doctor's TARDIS and he tells her he saw his telepathic pattern inside her head, meaning he had been inside her head before. They realize that blue Doctor is from the original timeline and get the brown Doctor to explain. Just before they part, blue Doctor tells Rose he loves her and then disappears from existence(full explanation Ch 40 A/N)
Summary-sort-of end.
#Doomsday Part One
A young man, not even in his thirties yet, strode through the streets of London. His steps were slightly shaky but he had a determined look on his face. He stopped just outside the entrance of a high building, preparing himself to take those few last steps, when suddenly the doors opened up and someone walked out.
"Excuse me," the new person said as the two collided. He paid him no more attention and walked off.
The young man lifted his head to look at bold writing, covering half of the building's wall. "Canary Wharf"
With a sigh, he stepped inside.
The time rotor was moving steadily inside the console room, an echo of a gentle hum going throughout the infinite walls of the time ship. The Doctor was prancing around the consol, pressing buttons and pulling levers in a mad dash he had set himself into. Rose was watching him dance around while waiting for him to pay attention.
Suddenly he stopped.
"It's weird. I thought I knew that song," he noted with a disappointed frown. His mouth moved in rhythm of some lyrics which Rose failed to catch the words of.
"Doctor."
He spun around with a jump. „Right. Where was I? Call the captain. He better be out of London by 1st of July." He leaned over to pull a lever on his right side. "With the void opened up, he would just be pulled right in." He sniffed. "Even his immortality won't help against that."
"What're you gonna do?"
"I'm going to set the coordinates for London, Powell Estate. Let's say 1st of May." He gave her a side-glance and pressed on another lever with his left hand.
Rose grinned at him. "You do that. I'll be back in a sec!" she called out while rushing back to her room where she had left her phone.
The Doctor watched Rose go all the way until she disappeared inside the hallway and then exhaled a breath he had been holding.
Turning back towards the monitor, he pressed a few buttons waiting for a reading to appear. He then dug inside his breast pocket to retrieve his sonic screwdriver. With a bit of quick adjustments, he picked the right setting, smiling briefly at his victory and then leaned over the console to press the faraway button. On the right side of the monitor a part of console opened up and a cylindrical tube appeared. Without wasting a second, the Doctor settled the screwdriver inside the tube, pressing a button to close it shut.
The monitor started emitting a steady bleeping sound, it going for about a minute, until finally the Galifreyan symbols stopped changing and the Doctor could read the results. His eyebrows rose up in surprise, mouth going slack open. "Oh, Rose."
The readings worried him but also gave him a sudden idea. A possible solution if only in theory. He couldn't be sure if it would work, but he sure wasn't passing a chance for one more alternative. Without further ado, he pocketed that idea into his mind just as Rose emerged from the depths of the TARDIS and he quickly pressed the right buttons to close the program down while also not forgetting to snatch the sonic screwdriver back to his breast pocket.
He proceeded to appear busy and while having not much else to choose from dug his hands into his Janis Joplin's coat pockets.
He wasn't sure why he was trying so desperately to hide but his only guess was habit.
His hands went down deep into his pockets, pulling out everything he could find there and placing them on the console. One by one he took the things out: super glue, duct tape, hair band, gum, gas mask, scissors… "Scissors!?" he cried out in disbelief, a frown crossing his forehead. "You could take an eye out with that." He then considered. "Or prick a finger." He tossed the offending item aside and continued rummaging through his infinite pockets just as Rose joined him near the console, one hand still clutching the phone tightly.
"Okay. I just got off the phone with Jack. Told him to stay out of London on the 1st of July," she told him and after pocketing her phone, came to a stop. She scanned all the stuff the Doctor had pulled out, reaching out for a pink hair band with strawberries on it and holding it between her two fingers with a questioning rise of eyebrows.
She gave him a look.
"What?" he only asked, and proceeded to scan his pockets further. He felt something wrap around his index finger and nudged on it to take out. A yo-yo appeared in his hand next.
"Oh! Look at you. It's been ages since I've seen this thing," he cried out in a bliss. He tried it out for a good measure. "Well, at least a decade or two." He let it spin out till it nearly reached the grating and then nudged it to spin back up. He giggled in delight. "Look at me. I still got it." He then caught the yo-yo in his palm, looking at it with deep wonder. "I thought I lost it under the console. How did it even get in there?"
Rose watched the Doctor in slight amusement for a minute or two, shaking her head at his antics before clearing her throat to get his attention. The Doctor whipped his head to look at her innocently before placing the yoyo carefully back on the console, feeling like a naughty kid being scolded by his mother. His body did a full length shudder from such thoughts, and Rose could only jump back a bit from the suddenness of it.
"So, what else do we need?"
"Right!" He jumped back on his heels, clasping his hands together. "Assets….Assets… Assets assets assets assets….assets!" His head tilted back with his rambling and then just as suddenly he straightened up. "Right. Did you get the ropes?" he suddenly turned to look at her, his face a mere inches apart from her face. If Rose wasn't so used to his eccentric behavior as she was now, she would have jumped back in surprise. Now she only stared him back in the eyes and asked calmly. "What ropes?"
"The 25.8 strengthened dragons' tail ropes we got from the asteroid XXX7#."
Her brows furrowed in thought. "You said you already took care of that."
He tilted his head slightly in thought. "Did I?"
"Yep," she confirmed, pursuing her lips slightly. The Doctor seemed to have followed the movement, now staring right at her mouth in an unwavering intensity. Rose had to gulp the sudden tightness in her throat while also trying to calm her racing heart. If he wanted to kiss her, he could just bloody do that. Somehow kissing the Doctor felt less nerve-wracking than the casual temptation of so-near-but-so- far-away kind.
"You're staring," he suddenly said and Rose had to blink herself awake, wondering if she heard him right.
"No." She laughed softly. "It's you staring."
His brows suddenly rose high in his hairline and he briskly leaned back. "Right. Yes. Sorry," he muttered quietly and turned back towards the console, his one hand pulling on his ear.
Rose had to bit her lip. What was he even sorry for?
"Everything all right?" she asked, just to be sure.
"Yep," he popped the p, his back facing her.
"Doctor-"
"Rose."
He suddenly turned around to look at her straight in the eyes. The look in his eyes seemed to have changed from just a few mins ago, there was something underneath that she couldn't quite pint point.
"Yeh?"
Something conflicting passed through his eyes at that moment, it was also slightly covered in reluctance she was so familiar in seeing all these years. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He just stood there, running his tongue inside his mouth and then closed his lips shut. Rose's forehead wrinkled in worry but she waited patiently for him to continue.
"Rose," he tried again, his voice deep.
"Yes, Doctor?"
He swallowed tightly as his shoulders slumped slightly. "There's something… " He inhaled deeply and tried again. "Something that I might have an idea about. But it's too vague still. I need you to trust me and not ask about it, all right?" he ended with a quiet plead, as if waiting for her judgement. Rose stared at him for a moment longer to gauge his expression but after finding nothing but desperate need of understanding she quickly gave in, giving him a gentle smile in return.
"Okay."
His shoulders visibly relaxed at her words, his body gaining back the usual bounciness. "Right then. If you're quite done… we're ready to land." He gave her a side-way look to ask for permission to follow. Instead of answering, Rose took a step closer to his side and placed her left hand onto his right one on the console, entwining their fingers together. This time it was her turn took look at him with all the intensity she had.
"Okay, then. We'll do it your way. But together, yeh?" she asked him with a grin on her face and the Doctor couldn't agree more.
"Yeh.
The TARDIS landed with a soft thud inside the living room of the Tylers' flat. Jackie was just finishing up the dishes when she heard the sound of the universe throughout her whole apartment. Her heart leapt in joy at hearing the sound. It meant her daughter's return and she couldn't be happier.
With hurried excitement she quickly whipped her wet hands on the cloth and came out of the kitchen just as the Doctor and Rose stepped outside out of the TARDIS.
But being Jackie, even having not seen her daughter for months, she couldn't stop herself from making a remark. "Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone! You never use it!" she exclaimed, exasperated and pleased at the same time.
Rose was the first to gather her in a tight hug. "Shut up, come here!"
"Oh, I love you!"
"I love you. I missed you so much, mum!"
The Tyler women hugged each other with all they had, half blocking the Doctor from fully coming out, but he tried his best to squeeze himself past them, unnoticed.
That moment Jackie decided to break their tight embrace with Rose and after spotting from the corner of her eye the Doctor moving aside, she quickly proceeded to tell him what she thought about it. Clearly she was having none of that.
"Oh no you don't. Come here!" she exclaimed and then tried to grab onto him but the Doctor already knowing what to watch out for, made an effort to evade her.
"Oh no no no no no!" At Jackie's bemused expression he stopped her with an index finger. "There're… three… three very important reasons why you should never, under no circumstances, repeat that gesture on me again."
Jackie could only grimace at him. "What is he on about, then?"
Rose bit her lip, while trying to suppress her grin, clearly enjoying the Doctor's obvious discomfort of possibly again being smooched by Jackie Tyler.
But sooner or later the games had to end and Rose pressed her lips together in all seriousness. "Mum? There's something we must tell you." She hoped to not freak out her mother just yet and tried to thread gently but it was not Jackie Tyler who suddenly got a heart attack, all right, but rather everyone except her.
"Oh my god!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Are you pregnant?" Her words were followed by a very unmaly, high pitched squeal of the Doctor.
"WHAT!?"
"Wha- Mum!" Rose could only agree with him.
"Oh, I don't know. You stay all cooped up inside that box for months, don't even bother to call, what else am I s'pposed to think?"
"WHAT!?"
"Oh don't look so scandalized." Jackie gave him a look.
"This is me horrified!" he shot back, his eyes still very much wide open in shock.
Clearly the Doctor was still too much in shock to function properly and would sooner start sputtering if nothing was to be done, so Rose took matters in her own hands. "Mum. I'm not having kids, possibly not ever. So can we just drop it, yeh?" she asked with a hint of exasperation.
"Fine fine. Not just yet."
"Mum! Please."
"Okay fine." Finally Jackie seemed to cooperate and straightened up to stand with her hands crossed on her chest. "So, if not an alien pregnancy, what are you two having this awful look for?"
Rose glanced at the Doctor, who just now was seemingly coming back from the bombshell Jackie Tyler just dropped on them, and sighed. This was looking like a long talk ahead.
After exactly two hours twenty eight minutes and thirty two seconds (the Doctor counted) the Tyler flat went eerily silent. Rose was anxiously biting her nail while watching her mother's expressionless face. If she would only say something...
As if reading her thoughts, Jackie stood up. "I think we all need a nice cup of tea." She turned to look at the two dumbstruck faces on the couch. "What would you like? Earl Grey? Yorkshire tea? Do you want one sugar or two?"
"Mum, didn't you hear what I just said? I'm repeating a timeline. We are repeating a timeline." She thought they explained her clearly, in as much detail as they could. Why was she acting like this?
"Oh, I heard you, all right," Jackie interrupted her before Rose could say more. "There have been all kinds of things happening sice the moment himself came into our lives. My daughter not coming back home for a year, aliens at my doorstep. The next thing we know, he brings a moon inside my living room."
"Weeell…" the Doctor started to speak but Jackie cut right through him.
"And I accepted that it's your life now. But I don't bloody want an alien inside my head." Jackie stared at Rose's pleading expression and her tone softened a bit. "But I have to, don't I? Because you're my little girl and I'll do whatever I have to to be there for you. So yes, I'm going to have that bloody tea ready right now, because that's what us British do. And it's the only not alien thing left for me."
The Doctor and Rose seemed to have a similar expressions of deep regret on their faces and guilt as they quietly listened to Jackie Tyler talking. "And I don't have anything really against you, you know?" she said softly and the Doctor had to lift his head up as if sensing it was meant for him. "I know you'll take care of my girl for me, and I'm sure I'll understand this all better with those memories back. But now I need a cuppa."
"So how much sugar it's gonna be?" she pierced them with a firm stare to which Rose could only open her mouth a few times and close.
"One, thanks."
The pair on the couch watched Jackie disappear inside the kitchen. They both still had a sort of stunned expressions on their faces.
"Well, it could have gone worse," the Doctor offered lightly.
"You think?" Rose asked rhetorically, not really expecting an answer. "I don't know what am I doing... Do you think I'm doing the right thing? Forcing her to remember?" She glanced at the Doctor with a troubled expression on her face.
"I think... you wanted your mother to be on the same page as you." He squeezed their fingers which were tightly wrapped around each other this whole time, quietly giving support to each other even without words. "It might be a little bit overwhelming for her now but when she wakes up she will understand everything much clearer. You'll have Jackie with you." He smiled at her with such tenderness and affection, making Rose's fragile human heart soar in gratitude and love for this wonderful man, who became such an important part of her life. She could never imagine to be parted from him now. After everything they have been through it was just impossible to fathom.
It took another half hour for everyone to finish up their tea break. The Doctor tried to hurry the process up on a few occasions but was only given a dirty look from Jackie and quickly backpedaled.
Mothers.
He was quite surprised at himself for getting so domestic.
At the moment Jackie was back into the kitchen, doing their dishes while the Doctor and Rose were left with the task to make Jackie's rest comfortable. It would take at least several hours for memories to settle down inside her head so she had to stay put in one place.
Rose appeared from the main bedroom with a pair of pillows in her hold, placing them on the couch.
"So, how's this gonna work exactly? You being inside my mum's head."
The Doctor sniffed, while helping Rose to lay the baby pink duvet on the couch. "Every single person has an imprint of the previous timeline inside their mental hard drive. I could literally pick any person on the planet and push their memories from the previous timeline into the surface."
"Seriously? It's not just you and me?"
"Weeell, not so special anymore, are we?" the Doctor teased her with a knowing smirk on his face to which Rose bumped herself onto his side. She then sobered up, her hands momentary stopping in her work.
"But isn't that dangerous? The knowledge."
"Not if they're not aware of it," the Doctor said and with a spin plopped onto the couch, bouncing a bit. Rose stared at him from her position beside the sofa, a slight frown on her face. The Doctor hurried to explain. "They can't probe themselves into awareness. That's not how it works." He gestured with his left hand. "Strictly speaking, any telepathic being with a strong telepathic and sentient field could do that, but it would require them knowing. And they don't." He looked at her meaningfully, holding their eye-contact. Rose worried her lips with her teeth and came to sit beside the Doctor.
"So, what you're saying is... you're the only person in the entire universe who can unbreak this curse."
"Exactly." The Doctor had a haughty grin on his face. Rose refused to stroke his ego. But she just had to ask.
"So, is that why you didn't want me calling this universe the "reset timeline" anymore?"
He only gave her a look.
"Right," she agreed and pulled her feet to the edge of the couch. "But... is there nothing we could do to... I don't know... like, prevent the leak from happening, no?"
"Well... there's a chance that the universe will work it out on its own." The Doctor then proceeded to straighten Rose's legs and placed them both onto his lap. Having stayed in one place for a long while now he thought it was a brilliant idea to be of some good to Rose and proceeded to give her a foot massage.
Rose supposed she should be getting used to the Doctor's closeness a little by now but each new initiate he took just threw her. She tried to dampen her hormones when she felt his fingers idly playing with her ankles. Adrenaline was something she wasn't very good at controlling. But you couldn't blame the girl for trying.
"W-ahat? How?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice. Her only hope was for her mother to not suddenly appear and drop another bombshell in regards what she thought of their relationship. Speaking of… she wasn't even aware of their suddenly progressed relationship yet.
Rose spared a quick glance towards the kitchen and had to exhale in relief when her mother was obviously on the phone, oblivious to the Doctor and Rose. When the Doctor spoke again, she shifted her attention back to him.
"When the timelines hit the landmark," he answered her previous question. "In theory, it should put a seal on the previous timeline, leaving only one active timeline," he said thoughtfully.
"But?"
"I don't have that much information about multiple timelines collision. No one really does. It's all kind of untested. Waiting to be seen… Rose, are you ticklish?" he suddenly asked when Rose reacted quite violently to him putting his fingers on the back of her foot. But before she could answer, and possibly protest with everything she held dear, the Doctor's face light up like a kid's on Christmas Eve. "Oh. You are ticklish." He grinned at her wickedly, obviously remembering a time on the New Earth.
Rose gulped and slowly tried to retrieve her legs, but the Doctor stopped her from going anywhere and you could see the swirls twirling inside his head, forming an evil idea which Rose was pretty sure she wouldn't like.
To her utter relief, before the Doctor could literally lunge at her, her mother, dear ol' Jackie stormed into the room. "Oh, don't you start making babies on my sofa," she exclaimed in exasperation and the Doctor reacted like being hit by a bolting light. He sputtered, stunned in place for a second and then jumped back from Rose, dropping her legs and watching Jackie with wide eyes. Rose wondered how many times Jackie was capable of giving the Doctor a heart attack in one day. She scratched her forehead while watching the two interact.
"Wha- what? we… we were not!" he protested firmly. "I only had her leg!"
"Well I don't know. You're an alien, for all I know you could have your-"
"Don't," the Doctor interrupted her quickly. When she tried to open her mouth again, he repeated. "Just don't." He then turned towards Rose in desperate attempt. "Rose, tell her!"
Rose chuckled silently at him and stood up from the couch. "Mum, why don't you sit down so the Doctor could start?"
After twenty minutes, Jackie Tyler was put in a deep slumber, oblivious to the whole world around. Rose was sitting by her side, making her comfortable on their humble sofa (the Doctor had offered the TARDIS, even if with a bit of reluctance on his part, but hearing her opinion on him stranding her on some Moon he quickly retracted his kind offer. Everyone was happy after that). So now Rose was waiting for the Doctor to come back from the depths of the TARDIS with a vial for stimulating the synapses.
It was very quiet in the Tylers' flat with only her and Jackie being there until suddenly it was not. Like some kind of a wave, the voices of people in the streets suddenly pierced her ears. The shrilling screams.
She whipped hear head towards the sound and hurried out to the window. Sure enough the streets were in the midst of chaos. People were running around with their heads in their hands, trying to get away from a sudden threat. Rose's heart picked a beat when she saw just what that threat was. Amidst the chaos and people, stood featureless, like shadows, but definitely humanoid figures, looking very much like ghosts. Only Rose knew better now.
She gripped the curtain tight in her palm when she watched a woman freeze in the spot when the ghost figure passed right through her. The next moment the woman slumped on the ground.
Rose backed away from the window, ready to call out for the Doctor when she felt herself suddenly drowning, every pore in her body stretched as if trying to contain more than one existence in the same place. The uncomfortable feeling ended just as suddenly and she was met face to face with a not fully materialized Cyberman. In her living room.
She momentary froze in place but then shook herself out of it and grabbed for the nearest thing at hand. That being the lamp. And aimed it at the alien. "Stay the hell away from me," she bit back harshly and then raised her voice in a shout. "Doctor!"
The next moment the Doctor's head peeked out from the TARDIS doors, a worried crease in his forehead. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently but then his eyes followed what Rose was seeing and his mouth opened up in understanding.
He stepped out of the TARDIS and slowly circled around the thing until he situated himself just a bit ahead from Rose, like shielding her. His hand rose in the air with the sonic screwdriver in it. He pointed it at the shadowy creature and bleeped it.
"What's going on? I thought we came before the shift happened." Rose asked, feeling more calm now with the Doctor with her. She put the lamp back in place.
"And we did," he agreed and pulled his sonic back. He then took a few steps towards it, not forgetting to put his glasses on as he inspected the figure. It started to look around. "This is the very first shift," the Doctor said quietly and bleeped the sonic right into its eyes. It seemed to not approve of it and tried to swipe the sonic away but the Doctor only jumped back, watching it haughtily.
"Low signal. It's all right. It can't do anything in this form. Just don't touch it."
"Yeh, wasn't planning on repeating that, thanks."
After a few more seconds the time limit for the shift reached its peak and the figure started to slowly disappear, until it was gone completely. The Doctor and Rose both heaved a sigh with it gone.
"You all right?" the Doctor asked, looking her over but a small grin played on his face.
Rose nodded. "Yeh, fine." And chuckled in relief. Adrenaline wearing off.
They quickly drew each other in a tight hug, wrapping their hands around one another.
With the ghosts gone, the screams from the outside seemed to have settled down also, but panic was pretty much still there. The Doctor held Rose's hand in his as they both went to look out the window. He had a concerned frown on his face.
"They must be scared to death," Rose noted while watching the people trying to get away from one another in panic.
"And rightfully so. They got it right the first time," the Doctor duly noted. "Those human little instincts. Ever since you were primates and were stil jumping from the trees. You already had that sense of danger. What happened to you for you to get so… dumb"? the Doctor grimaced distastefully.
"Being rude again?" Rose grinned by his side.
The Doctor ignored her remark and spun around, taking off his glasses. "I will tell you what happened. You were brainwashed by the media." Another high pitched yell caught his attention some more but then he turned back to her. "Come on. We don't have much time. We have to go." He then proceeded to drag her to the TARDIS but Rose came to a stop, making him look up at her in question.
"Doctor, hold on."
"What is it?"
"We can't just leave her like that." Rose told him softly and pointed at Jackie's prone form still laying unconscious on the couch. The Doctor inhaled deeply.
"Rose, we can't take her with us. The next time we land on Earth it will be two months passed while only minutes for us. And even with the vial for speeding up the process, her brain will still need time to process the information. At least several hours worth."
"Yeh, well, tough, because I'm not leaving her behind with cybermen going for a casual visit every Sunday morning," Rose said with a firm confidence in her voice, showing the Doctor that she wasn't about to give up anytime soon. "We have to take her with us."
She could see the Doctor debating with the idea, probably finding thousands of mishaps Jackie would bring them if they were to take her back to the TARDIS but after a while he just exhaled in defeat.
"All right. But we're not taking her to the TARDIS. I have a better idea."
The better idea turned out even better than Rose had imagined. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that before. The Doctor instructed her to call Sarah Jane and in ten minutes they were at her doorstep, the Doctor carrying Jackie to one of the bedrooms in Sarah's flat.
They only needed Sarah to look after Jackie while she was unconscious but Sarah was eager to help as much as was needed. So having done that, Rose bid her mother farewell and the Doctor, after upgrading a chip in K-9 for a laser beam to work against daleks and cybermen, took her by hand in the TARDIS.
They set the coordinates for two months later.
to be continued... Reviews are FOOD! Especially now when I'm high on writing again. lol