Hey there, folks! I'm back with an AU arc. I was stingy, only giving you ~3k words of the epilogue so now you may enjoy these long upcoming chapters.
An extra thanks to dannicabbage83 and Darkelvoriplorellion Tyler for the support and suggestions that led to this chapter becoming into what it's today. Bear hugs for you!
P.s. I'm probably going to keep posting season 3 here also, since I can't imagine it being a part of a different story, also so that you can always find this story in one piece, if you wish to reread.
#The Canine Kingdom
It was a silent night on a faraway planet. There were no sounds of animals howling in the dark. Only the night's breeze and the flutter of the leaves could be heard in this quiet night. The only light, was the scarlet moon, which shone brightly in the starry sky. It was only an inch away from having the shape of a fully rounded moon. Somewhere in the distance a lone figure was passing through the empty streets. His steps not faltering as he continued to walk straight ahead.
The lone figure was wearing a long, brown leather coat, which fit tightly against his waist with the help of a metal belt. He wore dark skinny pants, with a small pocket sawn on the side of his right leg, easily reachable by his right hand. From the distance, nothing could be said about his eyes. His face was hidden from view by an unnaturally big hood.
Two round eyes were watching him as he strode by.
It was a little girl in the middle of an empty kids' playground. Her hands were clutching a brown bear tightly. He noticed they were slightly blue. She looked small and fragile. Couldn't have been more than 6 years of age. It was not a time for a little girl like her to be out but he didn't stop to ask her why. For a brief moment their eyes met. Her hopeful orbs were looking at him in wonder before he broke the moment by turning away. The last of him she saw were his slightly wavy locks fluttering in the wind.
He passed a few blocks of buildings, turning towards a more narrow alley until he reached a middle-sized wooden inn. The lights from inside shone brightly in invitation.
He stopped by the doors. Not yet going in.
His shoulders got tense as he continued to stand there, watching the rings of the wooden doors in front of him. He took a shaky breath, briefly closing his eyes and with a practised resolve, reached out to knock four times (the second longer than the rest).
He waited for a while, standing unnaturally still, until the doors broke open. A massive in size figure came out of the place, closing the doors behind him. His heart made a sharp thud inside his chest, startled.
He cursed his luck.
"Who's it?" a rough voice spoke from above. The young lad tilted his head to show his face to the newcommer. That moment, something passed on the big-guy's face. Some sort of recognition sparked in his eyes before a side-way grin made its way, a golden tooth showing from the gap between his lips.
The boy intensified his gaze towards the man, steeling himself. When he finally spoke, his voice came out deep and clear.
"I've come to see Mr. Schultz."
He didn't say anything else, just merely lifted the side of his coat to reveal a full linen bag. The imposing man hummed in appreciation and the boy took it as a green light for him to go ahead. He put the bag back in place under his coat and took a step further, ready to go inside the inn before a muscular hand shot out to block his path. He lifted his eyes, frowning in question.
"Not so fast, Munchkin. The password."
The man stared at him with an unpleasant look that made his skin crawl but he suppressed a full body shudder and narrowed his eyes at him.
"You already know who I am-"
"Yes, I do. But I also love seeing that prideful face die in shame soo much more." The man reached out to pinch the boy's cheek to which he got a slap of his hand and a glare in return. The man laughed at the younger boy, clearly enjoying his discomfort. "Spit it out, Jelly Bear. I won't let you see Mr. Schultz until you start beginning."
The young guy soon felt his blood start to boil in his veins. He clenched his fists by his sides, desperately trying to calm himself down. He couldn't allow himself to snap now. Not when he was so close to his goal. He swallowed tightly, while practising a few deep breaths.
He could feel the burning gaze of the large man while he was not looking at him. Waiting for him in amusement.
It would be so easy to just reach out inside his pocket and end this. He could feel the itch of his weapon against his right leg. It would only take a second for him to reach out for it and then it'd be all over. This poor excuse of a man wouldn't see the light of day ever again. He could do it. He could do it.
He couldn't do it.
Not today at least. He needed to hold out for today. If only for a single day longer. He breathed out a shuddering breath, refusing to look at the man ahead. Just for today. He needed to hold out just for today. Just for-
"There you're. All the trembling in my hands," the man spoke in a rough, delighted tone. He could feel the hot air against his ear as the large man whispered to him. "Cute."
Forget tomorrow. He's just gonna bloody do it now!
He flinched back from the man. His fingers quickly found the clasp of the pocket against his leg, his eyes lightening up with fire when suddenly bright light blinded both of them. He shielded his eyes with his arm, momentary forgetting the pocket.
The other man wasn't as lucky. He frowned deeply at the suddenly blinding light.
"Damn it, my eyes. What the hell, Roger?"
Suddenly the doors to the inn were wide open and a lean man was standing in the threshold, bathed in a yellow light coming from the room inside. He eyed the two of them warily. Then his gaze settled on the bulky man, showing a disapproving look.
"What're you doing, Tommy?"
"Mind your business, Roger. I was showing the lad some proper manners. Can't have just anyone barging in."
The man cast a surveying glance at the younger boy, but after finding what he was looking for, averted his eyes towards his partner. "His identification has already been verified. The boss has been waiting for him. Let him in."
His tone was calm but commanding. The other man still tried to argue some but soon understood he wouldn't get his way.
"Tch. Fine. You got lucky this time, shrimp." He waved a dismissive hand at him, indicating for him to get inside. The young lad could feel relief filling his insides as he took those remaining steps towards the threshold. He could still feel the bulky man's eyes on him as he went inside.
He was led through a long hallway, located just behind the bar. The lean man leading the way in silence. Ever since he 'collected' the boy, he spoke a total of zero words to the guy. Of course, he didn't come here for a chit-chat.
After a few moments, he stopped behind a hard wood double doors, a roaring lion engraved in between. The man opened the doors and took a step to the side, indicating for the boy to go ahead alone.
Once inside, he found himself in a dimly-lit expensive room. There were leather couches with satin material, surrounding a round table. Sitting in the middle, while resting his hands on the black cane, was an elderly man in a black suit. After spotting the boy in the room, he whispered to one of his guards and one of them came to physically drag the lad to sit down on the couch, opposite of the man.
"All right, all right. I get it," the lad muttered in irritation but after one glance of a raised eyebrow from the man, quickly shut up.
"It's good to see you finally delight us with your presence, Alec. I was starting to worry you weren't coming."
The words were spoken in calm, but Alec knew when not to poke the sleeping lion.
"I apologize for my delay." He bowed his head in front of the man, until he was told to lift his head up.
"So? Do you have what I need?"
"Yes, sir. Here they are." The lad uncovered the linen bag from under his coat and placed it on the table. After getting a subtle nod of confirmation he flipped the bag, letting all the contents scatter on the round table. What came out of the bag were round bronze insignia with a rose engraved in the middle, surrounded by rubies. It was named the 'Red rose' among the folks. It hung by a hook on brown striped rope with a ruby tied on with the frayed ends.
Alec proceeded to line the insignia up on the table. All the while he could feel the older man watching his every move. He tried to concentrate on the task, not to think about anything else but the slight tremble of his hands gave him away. He was just about to place the last of the insignia on the table when suddenly a hard fist landed on the table, freezing him on the spot.
"Are you making a fool out of me, Alec!? Thinking I'm too old to count, huh?"
Momentary regaining his wits, the lad swallowed and quickly retreated his hand. "No, sir. I would never-" he tried explaining but was sharply cut off.
"Then why I only see nine pieces on the table? Didn't we agree on ten?"
He swallowed, his heart beating fast in his ribcage. "I deeply apologize, sir." He bowed once again, clenching his fists in his lap.
There was a deep sigh coming from the other side of the table.
"You know, I've always liked you, Alec. You conduct business successfully and know your place. Don't make me change my mind about you now."
"I…" His words got stuck in his throat and he had to take a deep breath in to try again. "I know… I must be overstepping my boundaries here but please give me another chance. I promise you I can get another one for you within a week's time."
"A week he says," Mr. Schultz repeated tonelessly. Then there was a shift in the air and Alec found his head being harshly lifted by the end of the shiny black cane, pressing on his windpipe. He choked on the pressure, looking fearfully at the menacing eyes of his captor. "Do you think you're in position to ask me for a week, boy?"
"I… I…" the lad tried speaking but only spluttered against the pressure, his eyes watering.
The eyes of the man intensified as he spoke to him in a voice which held no compromises.
"Two days. I give you two days and if you won't deliver me the remaining insignia by then… you know who will pay the price."
The lad tried nodding but a sharp raised eyebrow told him he had to speak that he understood the man. "Y-yes, sir." He coughed a little but then carried on. "T-thank…you for your ….benevolence."
The man in a suit held his position for a while longer and then leaned back against his seat, the cane back on the ground. Alec wheezed from the released pressure and then barely registered two strong arms lifting him up from the seat, carrying him through the hallways like some rag doll and finally throwing him out in the rainy night.
He guessed he could only be glad they kept him alive. For now.
After leaving the inn, he found himself aimlessly wandering through the streets. He could still feel himself trembling from within. His steps were unsteady and suddenly he found himself tripping on the rock, falling on his hands and knees. He scrapped his skin but he could barely feel the pain of it. The fear he felt for almost failing, almost losing everything he worked so hard for those past two years kept his whole body shaking. Slowly he pulled himself to a sitting position on the back of his legs, fists clenched on his lap.
How could he have been so stupid?
He closed his eyes tightly shut as water continued to pour down his face, his dark hair glued together.
He stayed like that, rooted to the spot until a pair of small, red shoes appeared in his peripheral vision.
"Are you hurt?" the small voice asked and he just couldn't deal with it right now. He clenched his eyes tightly shut, barking out harshly. "Leave me."
The red shoes didn't leave. His harsh tone seemed to do nothing to make them leave and after a moment, the voice spoke again. "You look hurt."
Alec stayed silent. Only the sound of his harsh breathing and the rain hitting the ground echoed in the otherwise silent street.
Everything hurt. His whole body was tense and tired. He wanted to just pass out and wake up when it was all over but couldn't bring himself to move an inch. He stubbornly stayed rooted to the spot. His eyelids felt heavy, his eyes stinging as he continued to stare at the ground being hit by the rain, unseeing.
There was a shift in the air and then a pair of small hands were holding out a red candy on a stick towards him. "Here," the voice said, just as determined as before. Feeling too exhausted to argue, Alec lifted his head to look at the stranger who kept bothering him. But she wasn't a stranger at all. It was the little girl he saw in the playground watching him before as he passed by.
He stared at her, too tired to argue but clueless as to what could she possibly want from him.
She answered his question without being asked. "My mom used to tell me that sweets help you get over a broken heart. Does your heart hurt?"
He couldn't help himself. A breathy laugh escaped his lips at the irony. "Yeh. It hurts," he agreed.
"Then you can have it. I usually take one per day when my aunt is being mean to me but I'll give it to you."
He stared at her in wonder. She was a peculiar little thing. He tried speaking but his voice only came out ragged. He had to clear his throat and slowly try again. "Why… why're you being kind to me?"
Instead, the girl only gave him a big smile. "Because you seem lonely."
Her words froze Alec to the spot.
Lonely, huh?
He stared at her, taking in her now even more blue hands. How long did she stay in the rain like that? Her cheeks and nose were red, a trail of snot running down her nose, though, it could be mistaken for the rain. He didn't know. He opened his mouth as if meaning to tell her something but stopped short.
He wasn't in position to help anyone else. He couldn't even help himself.
He must have zoned out for a while because it startled him when suddenly the candy was thrust into his cold hands. He refocused on the girl but she only gave him a big grin and with a wave ran away, leaving him sitting there. A sweet candy clutched tightly in his frozen grip.
Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor was moving restlessly in his sleep, plagued by visions of the Universe.
Something was changing.
Among the multiple time streams, something new had come into existence. The timelines were still in flux, needing at least another few months before the breach in the timelines could be sealed for good, but something was already forming itself into a fixed point. The tiny red thread of timeline was forming itself around the already there timelines, extending the pathways of all the others.
It was still too early to predict the outcome of this new phenomena. It was even less possible to tell the source of it. But one thing was clear. Something new was happening and it caused a ripple effect throughout the timeline.
Dark brown eyes shot open, followed by a gasp. The Doctor took a few deep breaths in as he tried to catch his breath. Funny thing. Although respiratory bypass let him live without air, the dreams always affected his body by a sudden shortage of air in his lungs, seizing them painfully.
After a few more moments of taking air into and expelling it from his lungs, the Doctor finally settled down on the soft material of sheets. His right hand instinctively reached out in the empty space, trying to grab onto the warm body that should have been there only to come empty-handed. Momentary stunned, he felt his hearts take a sharp beat in fear and then his head jerked to his side to confirm the fact – the sheets beside him were empty and cold. He was alone in the room.
He swallowed tightly and his mind was already starting to fill with worries about dreams and wishes to never be granted when a calming hum reached his mind, informing him that his pink and yellow human was in the kitchen and that they were both safe.
The Doctor mentally thanked the TARDIS and proceeded to get up and search for his shoes, which he took off after receiving a disapproving look from Rose when he was just about to take a spot beside her in Her bed with shoes still on. After being warned to never try that again or he would not be welcome here anymore, the Doctor quickly got the message and randomly threw the shoes somewhere in the room. Thus, now he was poking around various boxes (some more stuff Rose took from the Powell Estate to better settle in the TARDIS.) He couldn't lie, anything starting with - settling in – TARDIS – Rose - made him giddy and happy beyond belief. So even if he just banged his toe on one of those boxes "Ouch ouch ouch. What's in there!?" and now had to skip on one leg while simultaneously searching for his shoes, the Doctor was okay with it. As long as Rose stayed with him in the TARDIS, he could live with a few boxes.
After a few more embarrassing incidents which he would gladly just go and forget about, the Doctor finally was striding through the infinite hallways of TARDIS with his converses on. In a few turns, he could spot the lighting coming from the arch which stood as a doorway to the kitchen and came to an abrupt stop at the sight ahead.
Her back to the Doctor, wearing a plain white t-shirt, pink pyjama pants and hair tied in a loose tail, Rose was bouncing on her feet, with a spatula in her right hand, flipping the pancakes in the pan. She was humming some kind of tune which the Doctor at first couldn't decipher but then he silently chuckled after realizing it was one of Ian Dury's. Rose still appeared not to have noticed him, so the Doctor took a moment to just take a moment and casually leaned onto the door sill with his arms crossed against his chest. Fondly watching her working in the kitchen. His kitchen. Their kitchen.
The slow moments.
He was sure he could come to love them just the same as the excitement of adventures.
Even without make-up she looked radiant and beautiful, especially when her face lit up after seeing the Doctor in the threshold.
"You're awake. Come on, then. Take a seat. 'm almost done. Just gimme a sec."
She turned away from him again, taking a bowl with the last of batter and pouring it into the frying pan with a spoon. She put the bowl back on the counter and took the pan in her hand to make the texture of the batter in the pan smooth. The Doctor was still watching her from the doorway and something so utterly fond and raw settled into his hearts that it took him by surprise.
Rose was still busying herself by the counter, muttering something among the lines "That should do it." When two strong arms came up to wrap themselves around her from behind. She stilled in her movements, taking in as one masculine arm was tightly holding her waist, another – around her collarbone. Relaxing into his touch, Rose placed one of her hands against the Doctor's on her middle, extending her fingers to wrap them against his wrist and giving it a squeeze.
"Bad dream?"
There was a small shake of the head and then a firmer squeeze on her middle, followed by a burying of his head on her shoulder. The Doctor exhaled in contentment, feeling the warmth that was radiating from her and letting it soothe him. He could smell the remnants of soap on her skin which was still slightly damp. She should have dried herself off better. What if she caught a cold like that? The Doctor chided himself after catching himself. What was becoming of him? The last of the Time Lords. Completely smitten with one human being.
With one more squeeze he unwrapped his arms from her warm body and stood up straight. Rose turned her head to look at him but he refused to meet her eyes and with a clearing of his throat took a step behind.
Rose tilted her head to the side, giving him a scrutinizing look.
Without saying anything, the Doctor took a half circle around her and after spotting what he was looking for, took one pancake from the plate, ready to munch on it. Instead, he got a slap on the wrist, making him drop the pancake back on the plate. He turned his head to look at Rose sheepishly, who was shaking her head with an disapproving look on her face.
"I just-" The Doctor timidly indicated on the pancake to which Rose straightened up and crossed her arms against her chest. The Doctor gulped. He could clearly see where Tyler women genes ran. With a pinch on his earlobe the Doctor went to sit by the table, patiently waiting while Rose placed the food on it.
When the table was ready, the Doctor hurried to get a taste of them, the aroma of said food was nearly driving him insane. It would be a crime to let another minute pass by without tasting it. He was just about to take a bite when he realized something was missing. He scanned the table but it was not anywhere in sight.
"Rose, could you pass-" he started but then a jar of jam was already being placed in his line of vision and the Doctor had to blink a few times to confirm it really being there. He lifted his eyes to meet Rose's beaming smile and gave her a grin of his own in return. He took a hold of said jar, scanning it. "Is this one of your mother's? If there's one thing she can do, it's make a decent flavour of jam. Love it!" He giggled a little but then seemed to catch himself, blinking. "Don't tell her I said that."
Rose chuckled at his antics and proceeded to eat her own share of pancakes.
"Mmm.." the Doctor hummed in delight and Rose's eyes flickered to his face. "This is marvelous! I didn't know you could cook. Rose Tyler, you've been holding back on me." The Doctor pointed at her with his fork and then grinned at her.
Rose smiled timidly at him and then shifted in her seat, pulling a string of hair behind her ear. "I just thought with everything that happened, we could use a bit of celebration, you know?" Her eyes flickered to the Doctor's who's orbs widened a little at that admission and then she hurriedly dropped hers. "Not that I'm saying a pan of pancakes is equal to a proper celebration but still... you know..." She shrugged slightly. "Just wanted to do something." She bit her lower lip as she waited for his response.
"Rose Tyler."
The voice that greeted her was deep and slightly husky. "There could be no better celebration than a home-made pancakes."
"Yeh?" Rose asked him with a growing smile on her face.
"Yeh."
Soon enough the Doctor was back on devouring the pastry. Forgoing the kitchen utensils, he picked the flour pastry with his bare fingers and continued humming as he ate. Rose grimaced a little at his sloppy eating but most of the time it was amusing to watch. She watched him with a somehow fond smile on her face until she spotted a drop of jam by his lower lip.
"Doctor?"
"Mm?"
"You got a bit of..." she trailed off, indicating with her finger towards the Doctor's face. He looked at her questioningly and after seeing her extended finger, grabbed it in his palm, grinning like a child who's just received a candy. Rose couldn't help laughing at his obvious misinterpretation of her and with a shake of her head, freed her finger, leaned on the table to reach out for the Doctor herself. She swiped her thumb against the corner of the Doctor's mouth, not noticing how he stilled for a moment there, and then just leaned back in her seat, placing her thumb in her mouth to lick it clean.
In the middle of doing so, she froze. Wide-eyed she glanced at the Doctor who was looking at her with the same kind of astonishment. Both of them swallowed tightly, unable to move. The Doctor's widened eyes soon started to get back to normal and he swallowed (probably the last bit of his pancake). Rose took that moment to take her thumb out of her mouth and couldn't help noticing how the Doctor's eyes followed the movement until they went back to staring at the lower region of her face. She swallowed at the possibility of it being her lips. Suddenly feeling bold, Rose tried to test that theory by swiping her tongue to lick her lips clean of the remaining jam. True enough, the Doctor's eyes darted from one side to another, following. The corners of her lips quirked, the beginning of a smile.
She continued to look back at his eyes which were observing her intensely, without saying a thing. His dark brown eyes were beginning to narrow, giving them an even more dark look and that set Rose's pulse racing. She sat patiently still, not daring to make any hasty movement in case that would spook the Doctor, but that seemed to not be the problem here. If anything, the Doctor appeared to be just content in staying frozen to the spot. Little by little Rose's racing heart started to calm down to a regular beating and a few frowning lines were beginning to form on her forehead. The Doctor was still pretty much only staring at her but now he had that thoughtful look on his face.
Did he seriously zone out in the middle of a moment there?
Rose swirled her tongue against her teeth, giving up on giving him a patient look. Only the Time Lord himself appeared to not even notice the lost moment of theirs. With a defeated sigh, Rose finally decided it was time to step away from this pathetic excuse of a moment.
The scrape of the chair against the floor seemed to finally do it and the Doctor blinked as if coming awake from a dream. "Eh? Rose? Where're you-" His eyes darted towards her as she passed by him but she only gave him a non impressed look and told him he could do the dishes himself.
The Doctor's taste buds were having a feast. He couldn't remember the last time he tasted anything so homey and warm. Well, he could. And if it weren't the same Tyler meal back on Christmas. He sighed in contentment as he let himself enjoy the given treat.
Then Rose started pointing her cute finger somewhere between them and the Doctor, never refusing to indulge her, just took a hold of said digit, marveling in the sound of laughter he gained from her. He grinned at her in return only to completely freeze on the spot when Rose leaned in to swipe on his lower lip (did he really eat that sloppily?) and took the same digit back in her mouth. The Doctor could feel his hearts make a thudding sound inside his ribcage.
If that weren't enough, then she just had to wet her mouth with her tongue, teasing the poor ol' him even more. The Doctor swallowed as he contemplated the possible variations of the actions that could be made from that moment on.
One. He could toss everything from the table aside, let it all shatter into million of pieces on the floor (he couldn't risk staining his pinstriped suit with jam, after all) and then crawl atop the table towards Rose before tilting her face a little to the side and snogging her senseless.
Cons of option One. Unless he was trying to imitate Racnoss before he even met them in this timeline, he would just make a fool out of himself, making himself look ridiculous crawling on that table.
Two. He could throw his chair backwards, the resonating sound would make her look up at his standing frame, make a half-circle around the table (it would take around three-four seconds for him to reach her), grab hold of Rose (lifting her up by her armpits) and then snog her senseless. Or maybe even lift her by her middle, bring her atop the counter where she just were making those pancakes and then have his way with her.
Cons of option Two. His sudden movements could very likely spook her and the moment would be shattered before it even started.
So that lead to option Three. Continue to stare at her and then it's likely that they both, by the cosmic energy of the TARDIS, would gravitate towards each other, meeting in the middle.
Cons of option Three. It never happened. Rose stood up and left.
He knew he was rubbish at relationships.
Left alone inside the kitchen, the Doctor could only sigh. He had some washing to do.
The Doctor finally reached the console room after whipping his hands clean on his pinstriped pants and simultaneously shooting the ceiling an accusing look. Somehow, conveniently, after doing the dishes for at least ten people(which should've come as a warning sign of powers from above (beyond and around, literally) being at hand there) he couldn't find a single cloth to wipe his hands dry.
He knew those two were working against him together.
He would've sulked a bit more, but after spotting the steady rise and fall of the rotor, the Doctor's mood took a complete turn towards excitement for a new adventure. With a joyous grin, he skipped the last steps towards the console and started putting the beloved ship in motion.
"Come on, you beauty. Let's give her a surprise."
The lights flickered inside the coral-themed room, a gentle hum showing approval of the driver's choice. The Doctor glanced at the upper region of the rotor, grinning proudly at himself.
Soon enough, there was a sound of steps against the grating and the Doctor momentary paused in his mad dance to greet her. In the moments the Doctor hadn't seen her, Rose had changed her cotton pyjamas to regular jeans and a hoodie. There was a moment of stillness, where the two regarded each other silently, but just like that, Rose's face split into an excited grin and she hurried to join him by the console.
"Now, it's gonna take another few weeks for the timeline to catch up. Lucky for us. We can use that length of time to go whenever we want."
The Doctor leaned in to bump his fist against one of the buttons on the console, grinning when he gained the response he needed.
"So, where're we going?" Rose asked just as excitedly.
The Doctor hummed, as if in thought. "I think it's time I finally made good on my promise to you." He pulled onto another lever and then kept shooting her looks to gauge her reaction. "How about it, eh? Still wanna see those dogs without noses?"
Rose's eyes lit up after hearing that.
"You mean... Barcelona?"
"That's the one."
Rose placed her one hand against the console to support herself as she leaned on it.
"Let's do it."
They shared a matching set of grins at that.
"Let's make it a bit earlier, shall we? Let's say... 4pm... Tuesday...October... 5006. On the way to Barcelona. Ha!" The Doctor pressed the last button with the side of his hip and then held out a hammer for her to take. "I think you gonna need this."
The TARDIS materialised on the top of the hill. A gust of strong wind blew past the wooden doors, but the box stayed put without moving an inch.
In a moment, the doors creaked open and the Doctor's head peeked out of it. He gave his surroundings an analyzing look before breaking into a smile. He straightened up and opened the doors wide open.
"Come on. The coast is clear." The Doctor tugged Rose by her hand, skipping backwards and laughing at her futile attempt at capturing her hair from going to all sides.
"Omph," she sputtered a little when her mouth took a bunch of blonde locks inside. "What's with this wind?" Instead of answering, the Doctor only locked their fingers together more firmly and began running. She barely had time to close the doors of the TARDIS.
"What's the rush?" she asked throughout the wind, after she spat yet another string of her hair that flew right into her face.
"We have two minutes. If we hurry, we might still catch it."
Rose blinked, not yet understanding. "Catch what?"
The Doctor chuckled in a knowing way and only tugged her along. "Come on."
They ran a few hundred of meters of distance more when Rose finally saw it. Just right up ahead the path, there was a trail of cabins being supported by cables. She squeezed his hand more tightly when she recognized the cable cars waiting for departure.
When they reached the spot, Rose, still a little bit breathless, the guard that greeted them was so heavily armored that Rose for the life of her couldn't tell what he looked like. She could only guess it was a he. Furthermore, then he only grunted for them to stand where the line started and went back to the control panel in the small box, pointedly showing that he couldn't care less about the duo. The Doctor and Rose both shared a look of confusion at what line could he have meant, considering they were the only people present there, when Rose suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards a white, painted line on the ground.
The Doctor sniffed and made a show of standing precisely by the line. Rose imitated him. The two only lasted a few moments before both burst out laughing.
"Hah." The Doctor took a breath in and turned in a circle, observing his surroundings. "I think we're about...uhh... twenty thousand feet above ground. The city is right bellow." He indicating with his finger and when Rose leaned in, he chided her to be careful. "That's our destination by the way. Hold on." He rummaged through his coat's pockets for a while and then took out two identical medal-like bronze things. "Here, take this." He placed one in her hand.
What she could tell from a first glance was that it was a round bronze medallion that was about the size of her palm. It had a loop with an adjustable knot (possibly to fit on one's wrist). But what really shined (literally) from above else, was an engraved rose in the middle, surrounded by multiple small emeralds. She wondered if those were real. Her mother would certainly love to have one of these.
"Well this looks posh." She turned the thing around in her palm. "What's this do then? Money? Identification?"
The Doctor grinned at her proudly. "The only acceptable identification on this planet. So make sure you don't lose it."
Rose continued to watch it in slight amusement. "No use for physic paper then," she muttered offhandedly and clutched the thing in her hand until it was time to show them to the guard.
The duo thanked the guard, the Doctor saluting him, before they both settled into the cabin, the Doctor having to duck considerably to fit himself into the small premises of the said vehicle.
Rose took in her surroundings to which the Doctor only smiled fondly at.
At the first sign of movement, Rose yelped in surprise but as she was still grinning, the Doctor chuckled at her antics. "I thought you'd be more used to this. Haven't you been to the London Eye before?" he asked her jokingly to which Rose took on a thoughtful look.
"Yeh, once. When I was like ten, I think." She chuckled but her mirth lacked humour.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "What, Mickey the idiot didn't take you?"
"Nah. He thought it was... too common, I suppose." She shrugged slightly, giving him a small smile.
The Doctor circled his tongue inside his mouth. "He's lucky he's away in another Universe," he muttered quietly to which Rose flickered her eyes to him in question but he only cleared his throat and scooted himself closer to her, leaning in to point at something out the window.
"That horizon over there... as soon as we pass these clouds, you'll able to see the heart of Barcelona. Oh, there it is." True enough, as soon as the clouds had cleared, a sight of a faraway castle opened up. The castle consisted of multiple levels of cylindrical towers, grey in colour. It sat on the mountain alone, like a king of the planet on it's own.
As they descended further, getting closer to the ground level, Rose could then spot a separate area, surrounded by rocks, isolated from the main part of the city where the lights were shining from. Somewhere in the middle of it, stood a tree as high as a mountain, its branches extending throughout the area and bellow it, on the ground, possibly some kind of big in size animals were grazing.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Barcelona," the Doctor whispered quietly as Rose took it all in.
"This is... it's beautiful," she breathed out in awe. "Can we go visit the castle?"
The Doctor sniffed and straightened back on his side of the seat as the cabin came to an abrupt stop, indicating that they've arrived to their destination. "Nah. The King is pretty unsociable fella. And heavily guarded. They say, the walls of the castle are so strong, that only the power of the strongest elephant could ever dream to move them."
"Aww, I'd have loved to see it up close."
The Doctor then stood up, the guard on the other size of the doors opening them up, and stepped outside. He extended his hand to Rose and helped her descend the stairs out of the cabin. "Come on, we'll take a tour among the local folks. Look out for those dogs. Practically everyone around here has them. You won't be able to miss them."
Rose took her time to straighten her clothes up after sitting for so long in a cramped space, then hurried to help the Doctor with his coat's sleeves, adjusting the lapels as she wondered out loud.
"What sort of alien was that guard?"
"Hard to tell." The Doctor shrugged. "Barcelona is a heavily toured planet. All kinds of species come and go around here. Mind you, not all just pack their bags and go like that. Some stay. Why shouldn't they? When the planet gives foreigners equal rights as the native people, there's no reason for them to leave. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw one or two species that we..." he trailed off, then catching Rose's expectant eyes hurried to finish. "Well, that I, couldn't recognise."
He then proceeded to walk towards the double wooden gates, Rose close by.
"You mean like inter-species couples?"
"This's a 51st century Barcelona. You wouldn't believe the things this lot has seen."
"Well, if you go about it like that then we are the inter-species couple also," she muttered under her breath and found herself face to face with another heavily armored guard, whose yellow eyes were the only indication that he had seen her. Rose pressed her lips together.
"Hi. I'm just..." She shook her head, gaining an intense stare in return. She forced out a laugh. " A tourist... you know."
"Identification," it barked at her.
Rose blinked, startled at the tone and then huffed a laugh. "Right, yeh. Identification." She was just about to give the medallion thing to him when she was quickly propelled backwards by a tug of the Doctor.
"Wha-"
"Wrong gate, sorry." He quickly saluted towards the imposing guard and then led Rose towards another side of the gate.
Another, identical guard stood there.
"Huh," Rose exhaled not really getting it. Then her eyes travelled from one guard to another and the only difference she could spot was the insignia on their armor in the chest area. The one she nearly went to had a red rose stamped on it. She quickly pulled out her medallion and realized hers had a green one.
"Oh, okay." She shrugged and gave hers to show towards the guard.
When the duo finally passed through the gates and found themselves in the busy streets of the city, Rose gave the Doctor a questioning look. "What was that about?"
The Doctor held out his palm where the medallion rested in. "Green rose. It represents a foreigner. The red you saw is for natives only."
"Is the law very strict here or something?"
The Doctor's eyebrows shot up as he posed a guilty look. "They say that Barcelona's law is one of the strictest in the galaxy."
"Oh, I wonder why we always end up in such places."
"No other planet has dogs without noses," the Doctor told her in all seriousness like it explained everything.
Rose nodded, just as serious. "That makes sense."
"I know."
They took the nearest path, leading towards the market. Some human kids were running around, playing tag with one of a blue-looking alien children.
"So what's this city called, then?"
"Barcelona."
"Get out of here." Rose dismissed him with a hand, laughing.
"It is!" the Doctor cried out with a laugh.
"But I thought the planet is called Barcelona."
"True also. It's the capital of Barcelona. Barcelona of the planet Barcelona. It's a bit rubbish. Leads to a lot of confusion."
"Mm. I see a pattern there. New New York. Barcelona. All big cities getting their own place in time and space."
"Good market system."
"Yeh... I bet. Why haven't they named it New Barcelona, though?"
"I dunno. Maybe it wasn't good enough to be named twice."
Rose looked around in all directions, taking in the merchant area the two had come to. Different species. Different smells. The day seemed to be busy in Barcelona. She sniffed the air, only to wrinkle her nose. Somehow the air on the ground level was a lot more stuffy.
"Ohoho!" the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, taking Rose by surprise. "Rose! It's the Walking Footman."
"The what?" Rose gave him a look and then felt a hand against her back, leading her towards one of the vending stalls. Rose was even more appalled by what that particular stand consisted of. There were dozens of stuffed limbs. Similar to a stuffed Slitheen's arm back in Henry van Statten's museum, only these varied from humanoid to... was that a Sycorax head?
"Are these even legal?" Rose asked, in slight concern.
"Not to worry. These guys are hand-made."
Rose only gave him a non-impressed look.
"But what for? It's not exactly a cute or even practical thing to bring back home." Rose couldn't understand the appeal of any of it. "Someone clearly watched too much of Addams Family here."
"Hm?" the Doctor turned to look at her questioningly.
"The American series?" She hinted to him, the Doctor still looked puzzled. "With the Thing? You know, the walking hand?" she gripped her wrist to imitate a severed hand walking.
"Oh oh!" The light bulb in the Doctor's head tingled and he turned back towards the collection on the table. "Where do you think the story came from?"
"What, seriously?" Rose looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "It came from Barcelona?"
"Could be." The Doctor shrugged, taking a closer look at one of the hands. "Maybe it was even us. Buying a souvenir and dropping it in New York in 1930s. Giving the cartoonist a boost of inspiration."
Rose considered that possibility when the Doctor chuckled at something he remembered. "Mind you, maybe someone found my own limb and it got in a time traveller's hands."
Rose squinted her eyes at that. "Wouldn't it be bad, though?"
"Horrific," the Doctor hummed in agreement.
Rose turned around to search for a more human-friendly stall (no way was she letting their sort-of-date continue be the topic of severed limbs any longer). To her utter relief, she spotted a candy stall, just a few rows ahead and she eagerly tugged on the Doctor's sleeve, gaining a whine from him for still not having checked the eardrums of Cylox, and brought him to her wanted destination.
The Doctor still pouted for a few seconds but when Rose asked the vendor for a apple candy with a chocolate filling and brought it to the Doctor to try, he could barely stifle his happy sounds at the taste of it. A drop of chocolate started dropping past his fingers and he took upon himself to lick them clean. Rose, noticing this, asked the vendor for a few more tissues and helped the Doctor, all the way chuckling at him for eating like a baby. At those words, Rose got a mouthful of said candy and she quickly shut up.
Clearly she could see the appeal there.
The Doctor was munching on his last bite of the candy when someone patted him on the shoulder. The Doctor swallowed, trying to chew on it quickly and turned around only to take a step back, startled at seeing two humanoid-sized elephants, looking at him with eager eyes.
"Uhh..." the Doctor cleared his throat, his eyes darting from one to another. "Can I help you?"
The two newcommers seemed to light up at that. "So good you asked! We were just trying to take a picture by the deity over there-" He pointed at the separated area Rose saw from the cable car's window before. "But the people today..." He sighed with a shake of his head. "Did you see their heights? It's like today is a midgets' day or something. They barely reach the deity's knee!"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at them. Rose was just finish up her portion of food and came to stand by the Doctor.
"What deity is that, then?" the Doctor asked and gained a confused look from the two elephants.
"Avium sub elephantum, of course."
Rose leaned in to whisper to the Doctor. "Is that Latin?"
"Yep. It's Latin for 'Winged Elephant'" He cleared his throat. "Sorry, we're not local here. Could you tell me... what religion is Barcelona practising?"
The two elephants shared a look among themselves. "Elephasism."
The Doctor inhaled, an understanding coming to his face. "Right. Elephasism."
"What does that make you then? The children of deities?" Rose asked the two elephants, observing them from head to toe. The two stilled for a moment but then an understanding passed on their faces and in a shift of a moment, they took off their heads only to reveal a pair of blue humanoid aliens in their place.
The Doctor and Rose blinked at the two, who only laughed at their reaction. "Happens all the time. I keep telling Mert that we should take our masks off until we're actually taking a picture."
"Right. So, sorry, what are you then?" Rose smiled at them politely but only got a dismissing hand in return and took a hold of the Doctor's sleeve. "Never mind us. We gotta hurry. The photo-spot is gonna close soon."
Rose opened her mouth to protest at their rude behavior but got cut short. "Don't you worry, sweetheart. We'll return your mate shortly to you. Just one pic."
And they were off, dragging the still flailing Doctor after themselves and leaving Rose watching their retreating backs.
"This planet clearly has a thing for 'long noses'," Rose muttered under her breath.
After following the Doctor with her eyes for a while longer, Rose decided to take another look at the vending stalls and came to a stop near one with accessories. There were various kinds of rings and bracelets but one thing they all had in common. They all seemed to be either holding a ruby or emerald. Rose picked one ring with the emerald stone. On a closer look, a snake appeared to hold the stone in its belly. She tried to try it on but then the medallion on her right wrist got tangled up with the accessory and she had to tug on its strings to untangle the two objects.
The medallion got loose from all her tugging and she had to loosen it up completely to readjust it around her wrist but just as she got a hold of the said knot, there was a pricking sensation in her arm. She yelped, feeling how her hand started to go numb and lost her grip on the medallion. It dropping on the ground.
The next thing happened almost in a blur.
There was a movement of dark lapels of a leather coat, then a change of air and a pale hand grabbing hold of said insignia from the ground. Rose barely took a glance at the dark locks and green eyes making eye contact with her, before the figure dived through the crowd of people, going further and further away with her only means of identification.
"My identification... Oi!" When Rose finally got her wits back, she started chasing the thief, but was momentary stopped by a shout of the vendor, telling her to return the accessory that she stole from him. Rose took a quick look at her finger which still had the emerald ring on it and just yelled back to the man that she'd return soon.
From the corner of her eye, she could see the man speaking to a few guards and pointing in her direction but she knew if she stopped now, she would loose the real thief.
She bumped into a few passing people as she tried to weave through the mass of people. There seemed to be more and more of them as she went further. The lapels of the dark coat were going farther and farther away.
"Someone! Stop the thief!" She tried getting attention of the people around her, but nobody seemed to pay much attention to her. She took another few leaps before she was pulled back by two rough arms.
"You'll be coming with us," the harsh voice spoke to her and she had a feeling she already heard that voice somewhere before. She took one look and yep, it was (possibly) the same guard (or at least of the same species) as the one by the gates.
"Thank god you stopped by," Rose exhaled in relief. "Someone just robbed me. Literally. Out of nowhere-" she tried explaining but was cut short.
"We got a report that you stole a valuable piece from the merchant in the market."
Rose could feel a misunderstanding already forming there.
"No, that's-"
"Are you denying having the piece?" another asked and then roughly took hold of her hand, showing the evidence on her finger.
"I'm not denying it, but I'm not the actual thief here. Someone stole my identification from me! You should be going after him. Not me." She pointed at the vague area where she last saw the guy ran off to, but the intense stares of the two guards only worsened.
"You're without identification?"
Rose sighed. "Yes, as I was saying, someone just stole it from-"
"You're unauthorised person then." There was a quick exchange of words between the two and Rose could feel her pulse starting to pick up.
"No. Hold on a minute. I was just telling you that I had an identification but it was stolen from me. Listen to me!"
A scene was starting to break out, but all the people seemed to conveniently avert their gazes and hurry away. Rose looked at everyone in disbelief.
All, except one.
When the guards were starting to drag Rose with them, the Doctor, down to only his pinstriped suit, skipped towards them, a wild look on his face. "Hold on. Hold on. Just a minute." He blocked their path, exchanging a look with Rose. She gave him a relieved smile after seeing him.
"What's going on here? On what grounds are you taking her?"
"This female has no identification. And she also stole from the local merchant. She'll be put to prison."
"What?" the Doctor sputtered, shooting a questioning look at Rose.
Rose swallowed. "Someone stole my identification. I was chasing him but I still had this-" She indicated towards her finger where the ring rested at, but was quickly silenced.
"Silence. Unauthorised people have no rights to speak."
They began to take Rose with them once more when the Doctor held up a hand and started rummaging through his pockets. "Hold on a minute. She has identification. Just a minute. She's...uhhh... my mate!" The Doctor nodded wide-eyed. Rose was shooting him looks of confusion but when she noticed the two guards still, that eased her nerves a little.
"What is your proof?" one of the guards barked.
"My... what?" the Doctor asked, suddenly lost.
"Proof of your association with this female."
"Riiight, proof. Of course there should be proof of something like that. Can't have going without proof, can we?" The Doctor was still pulling his pockets apart, but he knew it was futile. Everything even remotely useful was back in his coat pockets, which he so conveniently left at one of the railings back at the photo-boot. He tried indicating to the guards that he could go and get it but was quickly shot down.
Time was not on their side.
Rose shot him a searching look to which the Doctor only swirled his tongue against the roof of his mouth and then grinned at the guards.
Breathing heavily, Alec leaned against the cold wall of the building. He took a few sharp turns only to end up in practically the same area where he had come from, in case he needed to confuse his chaser. But that was proving to not be the case.
The young woman he stole the insignia from, seemed to have already been caught by the authorities.
He took a few deep breaths in, calming himself down. He could feel his hand clutching the insignia in his hand, almost painfully.
With this, he could finally achieve his goal.
He turned his head to take a look at the scene one more time only to frown when another man appeared in rescue of the woman. He seemed to be doing a lot of unnecessary talking which Alec quickly filtered out, being quite close to the scene and actually hearing everything fold out, until the man grinned at the guards and told them... no, more like insistingly advised them to take him with them.
"I'm a man without identification," he told them, standing tall against the imposing guards. "I have nothing to prove of my association with Rose, nor I have anything to prove my identification. By the law of Kingdom of Barcelona I should be put behind bars. Now then. When can we leave?" The man in a pinstriped suit grinned at the guards while extending his hands towards them.
Alec watched how the crazy duo was hurriedly taken from the scene, and just refused to think more about it. That man was insane. And he wasn't going to stop by to try to understand him.
He shook himself out of it and unwrapped his fingers from the insignia, only his blood to ran cold.
Green rose.
It was the Green rose. Of course they would be foreigners. Nobody local in their right minds would act like that. He had grabbed the wrong thing. Green rose... Green rose meant... Green rose meant this thing was useless to him.
The next moment the insignia was thrown against the opposite wall of the building, the lone figure curling onto himself in despair.
to be continued... there's gonna be one or two more parts of this Arc and then we'll be going to season 3. Horray!
Give me your thoughts~