"The Six" AU
'Journeys Converge'
Chapter Seven
- Bound -

A/N: I don't own squat, except what I write.

Music: Daft Punk ft. Lady Gaga - Human After All Mash Up (TheEthiopianDJ)

BTW: If you want to know what Sarah looks like, go take a gander at Emma Watson with short and tossed hair. =)

(still don't know who should be playing Danielle)

The Doctor was kicking himself as he ran towards the console room. 'Of course he'd go through with it,' he chided bitterly. 'There's no telling what alterations he went through just to be born.'

'Don't be hard on him,' Rose thought to him. 'If he's been deprived of telepathy or anything he would be used to…'

Their internal discussion was interrupted as the new Doctor's mental presence became known. It started soft, but rapidly increased in volume to match the screaming of his voice. 'Settles that. It's working,' the Doctor commented.

Rose hopped the table, when Sarah recoiled and slammed her hands on her head in a grunt of pain. Somehow, this was worse than with Donna. Pulling her close, Rose helped shield her daughter's mind. "Easy, baby. I've got you."

Seeing Sarah Jane and Danielle's confusion, she explained. "The other Doctor just got his telepathy and we can hear him screaming in our heads." Blinking rapidly, Rose ignored the tears that fell. His mind was different from the Doctor. It was strange, but it was a near mirror for Donna's, but still different somehow. Hers was quiet, but his was so loud.

Hearing the stamping of feet approaching, Jack turned from Martha to catch the Doctor. "Wait, stop! He's not done yet!" Seeing the Doctor gritting his teeth, Martha held on to him as well.

This was a completely new experience for the Doctor, and he hated it. Unlike Donna's run with the Arch, his other self bypassed all of his mental shields as if they weren't there. It wasn't as bad as he remembered going through the thing himself, but it was right up there as a close second. The lack of a name to call him frustrated him immensely, and all he could do was gape, grit his teeth, and vibrate from the pain.

Feeling it lessen, the Doctor grunted through his teeth. "Catch him." It was difficult, but he forced himself to stand still.

Turning from one to the other, Martha and Jack caught the new Doctor as he fell with a moaning gust of breath.

Shaking his head to clear it, the Doctor stepped to the console to check the settings of the Chameleon Arch. Nodding at what he found, he turned and knelt in front of the others. Lifting his other self's head, he saw him blinking in a daze. "You all right?"

"That fuckin' hurt like hell!" the new Doctor blurted, then winced from his own outburst. Feeling who was who with his arms, he tilted his head to the right and let it rest on Martha's shoulder. "Thanksh for catchin' me," he rasped and panted.

"Don't mention it," Martha replied, then looked to the Doctor. "You all right? That looked like it hurt you as much as him."

"What?" the new Doctor looked up into the Doctor's eyes. "Really? Oh, I'm sho shorry. I had no idea," he slurred.

"It's all right," the Doctor said quietly, patting him on the side of the head. "You didn't know. But, aside from all of that. Why did you go through this?"

"You are kidding, right?" his other self said. "I losht shenses shix through eight with that messh, and can we talk about thish later?" he whined. "My head ish on fire, and I feel like I'm going to drop out at any shecond. Up, pleashe."

They helped him to his feet, then caught him as he staggered. "Who shet the ship to shea, anyway? Deck'sh all wibbly."

"Somehow, I think that's you," Jack said with a chuckle, causing the other two to grin.

He turned his head to stare at Jack. "Be one with yourshelf. Two of you is just ashking for trouble." Turning his head the other way with a wobble, he grinned at Martha. "My God, you're gorgeoush!"

With that, his eyes rolled back as he passed out. Jack and the Doctor caught him, while Martha just stood there with her mouth open, shocked at such a thing. "Did he just say that?"

"Think he's got a crush," Jack said with a grin. "He's got good taste too."

"Mmm. Yes, well. Let's get him into a room, shall we?" the Doctor said, now completely uncomfortable. 'Sarah? You all right?'

'Yes. Mum helped,' she replied. 'Is he okay?'

'He babbled for a bit and complemented Martha on her appearance, before dropping out,' he thought back with a bit of a mental chuckle. 'Not sure if I should be worried about that or not.'

'Watched them for a bit. I think they like each other,' Sarah replied.

'Really?' Rose asked. 'You sure you didn't do anything with her, Doctor?' she teased.

'Besides frustrating her to death?' the Doctor said with a chuckle, eyeing the woman in question as she helped in carrying him. 'Not bloody likely. Hers was unrequited, I'm not so sad to say. Wish she didn't feel that way, but here we are.'

'If he doesn't ask her to stay on, you better,' Rose said. 'If you could see the look on Sarah's face right now…'

'I know she's not her, but she looks exactly like Danielle's mum,' Sarah added.

'Let's take this one step at a time, shall we?' the Doctor said diplomatically. 'Not saying I'm against it, because she's completely brilliant, but we need to step lightly. She looks skittish, and I'm hardly surprised. Just glanced at her hand, and that engagement ring she had is absent. Might be recent, so no bullying her into anything. Has to be her choice.'

The three of them got the new Doctor into a room that happened to be next door to Donna's. The Doctor wasn't sure, but he wouldn't put it past the ship in having a sense of humour in the matter. As it was, the new room reminded him of his own, only with a bit more of an industrial feel than classic. Wrought iron framed furniture were in the same places as his own, and the layout was identical. Other than the iron and wood, the colours ran towards the blue end of the spectrum instead of the red in his.

After they got him into bed, they gave the place the once over. Martha nodded approvingly. "Kinda like this. Something about the black iron really goes well with the wood. You know?"

Jack grinned at the Doctor's arched brow at her, but kept his mouth shut. He had a feeling the ship was being crafty, but didn't voice his suspicions. "Okay, I really need to check on Gwen and Ianto. Catch you later." He gave them a small salute and left.

At the door, Martha stopped the Doctor and looked back at his double. "Something's different about him."

The Doctor looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I know he's got both yours and Donna's memories, but there's something else about him," she mused. "It's almost a sort of innocence about him."

"I suppose," he said, tilting his head back and forth. "He is only a few hours old, you know."

"I know that," Martha said dismissively. "But he was really scared."

"Of what?" he asked her, honestly curious.

She looked up at him. "Being alone."

The Doctor's eyes widened, and he looked to his counterpart, frowning. "He'll never be alone."

"You are not alone," Martha whispered. "Could this be what the Face of Boe meant? Him, Donna, Rose?"

"And our daughter," he added with a grin.

Martha looked up at him in surprise. "The girl we picked up is your daughter?" At his nod, she smiled out of one side of her mouth and tapped his arm. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," he smiled. "Tea?"

She nodded rapidly. "Yes, please."

After they left, the other Doctor rolled over to his side and blew golden particles out of his mouth.

The evening was a mix of happy and sad, with exhaustion running through everyone. Martha wasn't surprised, from what Danielle said who her mother was, when the girl ran over to her in a sobbing mess as soon as she entered the kitchen. Jack came back that evening and checked on the double and Donna, before locating the others in the media room.

Sarah got the hug her father promised after Danielle settled down for a bit. It was everything she wished for, as he literally radiated calm. He tried to apologize for not being there, but she and Rose both shushed him over it.

After a small dinner of snacks, everyone turned in.

The Doctor, jacket and tie off, turned around to see Rose at the door of the bedroom. The sight of her made his hearts clench. "They settled?" he asked with a soft smile.

She nodded and simply looked at him, shutting the door behind her. There was an awkward moment while she removed her blue bomber. She kept her eyes on him though, even as she dropped it on the floor, then rushed him. Colliding into a hug, Rose was a mess of tears. "Oh my God, I missed you!" she shouted.

The Doctor bore her weight gladly. Like so many times before, he lightly swung her back and forth – relishing her presence. After a bit of that, he whispered. "I nearly died when you fell."

Leaning her head back sharply, Rose saw that he was crying as much as she was. "It wasn't your fault," she whispered. "I'm just so damned clumsy."

He chuckled half heartedly. "It wasn't your fault either. If you hadn't locked the lever, Daleks and Cybermen would have decimated the planet." He paused to swallow. "I am so proud of you. I just wish we hadn't been steeped in void stuff. There was no way you could've held on. If I had been thinking clearly, I would've set up a belt or something to keep you in place. Actually, that's a rather good idea. Get one of those child tether leashes I've seen and tie you to me permanently."

Rose cracked a watery smile. "You're a mess," she giggled. "But, your my mess." She held him tighter and buried her head in the crook of his neck. "You said yes, by the way," she murmured.

"I did, didn't I?" he grinned. Blinking away his tears, he rested his cheek against hers. "I don't think I can wait for formalities. Would you mind the actual right now? We can always do the pomp and circumstance later."

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I like the way you think," she mused wryly.

He giggled. "Normally, there's a pledge of vows…"

"I seem to remember doing that in the Vault," she interrupted.

"So we did," he smirked. "After the ceremony though, there's a part where we literally bind ourselves to each other."

"Didn't realize you were into S&M," she quipped.

"Stop it," he chuckled. "No. What I meant was binding our minds together."

Rose reared back with large eyes. "That's possible?"

Nodding, he smiled. "That's how my… our people get married, Rose. Like the Catholics though, there's no possibility of divorce. We will literally be two halves of the whole. Inseparable even through time and space, we will be able to mentally talk to each other without focussing, without even thinking about it. When we keep it open, anything I know, you will know. Anything you know, I will know. Drawbacks include food cravings that the other is having, shared pain, and the like.

"But, the reverse is also true. Taking care of each other will be an innate instinct between us, and we will know where the other is at all times. Sounds rather possessive in one context, but we will literally be a part of each other for the rest of our lives."

Rose's eyes widened the more he explained it, and by the time he was finished she had already been nodding for thirty seconds. "Forever, yeah? What do I do?" she whispered.

"I'm going to tell you my name. My real name. Since you're now a Time Lady and you've consented to be my wife, your first instinct will be to tell me your name. However, don't over think it. Just let your mouth work on its own. Might turn out that you have a Gallifreyan name already, and just don't know it."

She tilted her head. "How would that work? I mean, that doesn't make any sense."

He set her back on the floor and kept her close. "I don't know, but all Gallifreyans and Time Lords have their True Name reverberate from their own personal future. Usually happens at what would be construed as birth, but I'm not sure that qualifies now."

Taking that at face value, Rose nodded. "Will you marry me, Doctor?" she softly asked and bit her lip.

Smiling, he nodded. "Yes."

He leaned down to put his mouth to her ear. Rose heard the syllables of his name and had her eyes roll back in her head. A shuddering inhale happened of its own volition as her hands fisted the back of his dress shirt. She felt her mouth move, and something equally as lyrical came out of her.

She didn't notice what she said, as the Doctor's name seared itself into the core of her mind. Immediately, the joined symbols of his name came into her mind's eye – more real than anything she ever saw before.

As with Rose, the Doctor's eyes went back in their sockets when he heard her True Name. His arms closed around her tightly, and they were only able to stand with each other's help.

Without the need to touch each other's contact points, their minds combined and flowed between them. Their memories swirled around them, and they could do nothing but hold each other in rapture.

Sarah sat up abruptly in bed. "Ooh, I don't need to know that!" she complained.

"What?" Danielle groggily asked from the other side of the bed.

"They just got hitched," she said as she stood up, waving her hands. Moving quickly to the wall, she slapped the coral support. "Oi! They're corrupting the mind of a child, here! I don't care what you do, but block me off!" she pleaded.

"OH! I don't need to know that either!" she shrieked. "Brain Bleach! Where's the fucking brain bleach?"

Danielle watched her with a smirking grin on her face. "You all right?"

"NO!" she stomped her bare foot on the carpet.

The room hummed, and Sarah unclenched all of her muscles. "THANK YOU!" Slumping onto the bed, she stared at Danielle. "There are some things that I just don't want to know about," she said with wide eyes.

Danielle simply stared at her. Then her face cracked, and she started giggling like mad.

"Shut up," Sarah scowled at her.