Return to Memory
Chapter 6: Danger and Chips
The Doctor sat in the jail cell, trying his best to seem like this wasn't a completely normal occurrence for him. Rose, to her credit, didn't seem all that worried by it. Just once, he would like the TARDIS to take him to the right destination. Because of her rather frustrating habit of landing on the almost right planet (almost right, but always just off enough to be dangerous) he now had to try and woo a Rose that didn't remember him while being arrested and altogether stressed. She put up with the danger and all of that because that was what they did: traveled together and saved worlds and helped people. This Rose didn't do that.
He was trying his best not to mope, but all he could do was sit there, rather frustrated by the recent turn of events, and try to figure out a way to escape the prison they were currently stuck in. Rose was sitting calmly by the small window they had, looking out at the purple sunset and smiling.
Wait…what?
He looked again, to be sure that it wasn't his imagination. His second glance confirmed the impossible (or what he thought to be impossible). This Rose, who had never before (to her knowledge) been on a dangerous adventure with him, who was currently in a jail cell for invading private property, was smiling. He needed to say something. He needed to bridge this gap that had been forced between him and the woman he loved but who did not remember him.
"I'm sorry that I got us into this mess." He said, for lack of anything better in his slightly muddled and completely overwhelmed brain. She just turned her gentle smile to him, waiting for him to continue.
He fiddled with his sonic screwdriver. "It's just…weeeelll…the TARDIS doesn't always take me where I want to go. She has a mind of her own, my ship."
Rose laughed. "I had a feeling about that, really." He frowned and waited for her to continue.
A sort of comfortable silence fell over them then, and Rose turned to look at the sunset once again, confused over her own lack of panic. She really should be freaking out right now. For some reason, she just knew that he would get them out of this. Though her unwavering and somewhat random faith in him unnerved her, she couldn't help feeling it. She would just have to ride this out and see where it led. She didn't really have much of a choice, anyway. She found his crinkled frown and pouting lip adorable, and despite the situation, she knew his upset face wasn't really about their incarceration.
"Just one planet over." The Doctor mumbled.
"Excuse me?" she said, turning from the window.
"Chips. Lunch. The TARDIS landed us one planet over from the one I was aiming for. I'm so sorry I didn't realize it until after we were arrested." He said, remorse clear on his face.
She got down from her perch to sit beside him, resting her hand gently on his sleeve. The electricity hummed through the clothing, but she ignored the fact that she shouldn't be touching him. "S'okay." She said, frowning at the strange accent that had just popped out of her mouth. She ignored it in favor of the morose Doctor. When she looked up, she was a bit confused.
He was staring at her again, with that strange expression on his face. It was as if he was looking for something, but couldn't find it. She longed to reach up and smooth the wrinkle from his brow with her fingers but knew that she should not. She clenched her left hand tightly, allowing the one on the Doctor's arm to stay, for the moment.
"I'm going to get us out of here." He promised, and he was surprised by her immediate answer.
"I know" she replied. Her smile encouraged him and he whipped out the sonic from his pocket.
"Ready for a break out, Rose Tyler?" he grinned.
She stood behind him as he began to work on the lock. There was a familiar buzz and a soft snick as the door swung open. "That was easy." She said.
He grinned back at her. "Here comes my favorite part!" he said, gesturing at the approaching and rather alarmed guards. "Rose Tyler, run for your life!"
She shouted with laughter as they dashed out of the prison and away from the howls of the guards. It was all so very perfect, she thought, except that she had a strong feeling she should be holding his hand. She clenched her hands to her sides and continued to run behind the Doctor as they approached the relative safety of the trees.
Adrenaline still pumping through their systems, the Doctor and Rose collapsed against a large tree to catch their breath. She was still trying to hold back her laughter, and he was high on the familiarity of running from danger with his precious Rose.
Oh for goodness sake. He sounded like Gollum.
They stayed there for a few minutes in silence, listening for any approaching guards. When they were rather sure they had lost them, Rose turned to the Doctor.
"So where did you park the TARDIS? I lost track after they locked us in."
He looked around for a moment, then gestured to the south. "That way. Right through town. That's going to be a bit of a problem. We might want to wait until nightfall. Less chance of being spotted."
She nodded. Nightfall was only a few minutes away. Her stomach grumbled and she stifled an embarrassed giggle. The situation wasn't as funny when she saw the obvious guilt on the Doctor's face. "I'm sorry, Rose. This was meant to be a relaxing and happy adventure, not a dangerous and scary one." It wasn't at all what he planned for their first date.
Rose looked up at the faint light that remained and estimated they could get moving in a few minutes. "You know, Doctor, I'm really not scared. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel, but I find this adventure fascinating." She glanced at him, deciding it might cheer him up if she flirted a bit. "And my companion is a bit foxy." She winked at him, her hearts jumping when his eyes gleamed in response.
"Weeeell, you know, this regeneration was made to be foxy."
She laughed. "Well, I'm sure there are twelve more where that came from."
He was rather confused at her estimation. He was in his tenth regeneration, so why did she just say he had twelve left? Other Gallifreyans should be able to tell how old he was just by looking at his timelines. Unless…
He examined his biological clock carefully before realizing why he had felt so young lately. He was only on his second regeneration. Rose had turned back the clock on his body, and given him thousands of years left to live. He no longer had to worry about the age gap between them.
He glanced over at his love, and though she had no memory, he was confident she would regain it. He had been reformed and his life molded so that she would fit into it like a jigsaw puzzle piece. If she had done this, then surely she would have left a trigger to release her memory. He just needed to find it.
He was just starting to relax a bit and plan their next move when they heard a bloodcurdling sound from behind them. Rose sat up straight in alarm, not even looking at him before running in the direction of the sound. Now that wasn't what he expected at all. She was running headlong into danger and leaving him behind…wait…
He jumped up from his place under the tree and sprinted after her. "Rose! Wait! It could be dangerous!" he shouted, not particularly caring if the guards found them again, as long as he kept her from reaching whatever danger was ahead. When he caught up to her, she was stooped behind a large bush. She gestured to him to be quiet, and he carefully crouched beside her, peeking through the leaves as she was.
In front of them was a small house, seemingly abandoned and very old for this planet. He estimated it was probably a hundred years old, ivy growing around it and trees poking out of the roof. What caught his attention most, however, was the row of cages along the house. Each of the cages contained a small creature. He turned to the source of the now weak and strangled screams and cries.
The Doctor recognized one of the natives from this planet, a tall man that looked somewhat like an elephant. He was covered with dark brown fur and was dressed in the robes of a merchant. He had his back to them and was currently doing something to the creature in the cage. He heard Rose gasp beside him as he realized what it was he was doing.
He was plucking the feathers from the creature, which the Doctor now recognized as a Balbox from Lak'thi (the planet he had actually meant to go to). Anger welled up inside of him at the sight. As the creature grew slowly weaker, the man filled a bag full of the feathers. Rose shook beside him, and when he glanced at her he saw tears rolling down her face. He laid a hand on her robe-clad shoulder, the electricity buzzing and comforting him by the touch. Rose looked up at him with tears on her cheeks, and they both turned back to the horrible scene.
A small bleeping noise came from the alien's pocket. He retrieved it and began speaking into it.
"Yes, I've almost got them. Well, you'll have to give me a few minutes. Yes, I'll meet you by the fountain. In two hours, yes. I've got to go home and wash first. These disgusting things always get their blood all over me." There was a pause and a grin. "Soon, the two of us will be responsible for the greatest victory of all time."
At this, he closed the bag tightly before swinging it over his shoulder and walking briskly into the trees, heading back to the town. They waited several minutes as his footsteps faded away.
Rose turned to him, tears in her eyes. She had seen worse than this, he knew, but she didn't remember. She was his Rose in all the ways that mattered, but she was still a bit naïve. This Rose had grown up on Gallifrey, well taken care of, though she had never had an easy life. But this Rose had never seen genocide or murder before. She had never stopped a planet from self-destruction. His hearts constricted in his chest, and he knew she needed comfort. He pulled her into an embrace, which she returned. He held her until her shaking stopped, and then found he couldn't quite let go. This didn't worry him much, because she didn't release him either.
"Doctor?" she said softly into his jacket.
He subtly breathed in the scent of her hair as he answered. "Yes, Rose?"
Her grip tightened on him and the electricity zinged through their clothes. "Can we save them?"
He grinned. Yes, definitely the same person in all the ways that mattered. "I've already got a plan."
They pulled apart and she grinned. "So tell me your plan. We've got two hours before he's going to meet someone dodgy at the fountain."
"I like the way you think, Rose Tyler! Now let's go see what we're dealing with." He resisted the urge to hold his hand out to her. He had practically molested her already, by Gallifrey's standards. They really shouldn't be touching at all unless they were married, and only in private.
They entered the clearing, and the Balboxes were looking at them, but making no noise.
"Can we let them out?" she asked, wanting to free them from this horrible place.
The Doctor shook his head sadly. "No, we can't. If that man comes back and sees that anyone has been here, he might hide his whole operation and we won't be able to catch him."
They gazed out of their bars fearfully, and Rose's hearts fell for them. "This isn't how they're supposed to act, is it?" she asked the Doctor, gazing in at one of them and admiring its beautiful red feathers and slim yellow beak. Its golden eyes gazed back at her, fearful.
The Doctor was a few cages over, trying to coax the bird to eat some food he had in his hand. It wouldn't even look at him, and cowered in the corner of his cage. "No, Rose. These are generally friendly and domestic creatures. They love people, and they absolutely adore circus peanuts."
Rose walked up beside him, looking quizzically at the food in his hand. "Circus peanuts?"
He laughed and offered her one. When she didn't take it, he bit off a piece to show her it was perfectly edible. She was rather hungry, so she took the rest of it and tried it. "It's a bit weird, but good. What is it?"
He closed the door of the cage, leaving a circus peanut in the bottom. The bird leapt on it when the door was closed and it was gone before Rose could blink. The Doctor walked to the door of the small building, explaining the Earth food to her. "Circus peanuts are a human candy. They're squishy and weird, but oddly addicting. You know, I once…" She followed him into the building when his voice stopped abruptly.
"What is it, Doctor?" she asked.
Inside was a long table, covered with flasks and bubbling beakers and tubes. Thousands of colorless feathers littered the floor and a pile of bird bones rested in the corner. She looked at the Doctor's face, and dread pooled in her stomach at the look on his face.
"This is far bigger than the murder of innocent animals. I know what they're doing." He said. His face was dark and his voice had a dangerous edge to it.
"What? What is this? How do we stop it?" she asked, touching his elbow gently. She didn't like the look on his face. It made her afraid. He turned to her and his eyes were like a storm.
An echo in the back of her mind startled her…the Oncoming Storm…
She blinked and it was gone.
"These birds are special. They used to be wild, and their feathers were their defense system. They inject poison into attackers. When they were domesticated, the people created a vaccine that would protect them from the poison because they didn't want to take away the birds' ability to protect themselves. They made antivenom instead, and injected themselves with it. The man was taking the feathers to harvest the poison. He's using it to make a more powerful poison, which he will use on the other birds. He's going to breed birds that have no ability to control their release of a more potent poison, and it's going to kill thousands on Lak'thi."
Rose shuddered. "Why?"
"These two planets were once at war. Lak'nar, the one we're on, and Lak'thi, the neighboring one, fought over resources. This planet has food, but almost no water. The other planet has water, but no means to grow food other than potatoes. The people here moved here when their planets were destroyed in the Time War. They needed to make the planets inhabitable, so they fought to gain what they needed. The planets originally fought to take what the other had, but they reached a truce and trade what they need for the sake of preserving their species."
"So why would anyone want to kill the people of Lak'thi?"
His eyes darkened a bit more as he picked up the sheet of formulas and punnett squares full of breeding information and genetic probabilities of a super-bird. "At the end of every war, there are always people who believe they shouldn't have reached a peaceful agreement. There are always people ready to kill to take what they feel should be theirs."
She leaned up to him, making sure he met her eyes. Her jaw was set, and she was determined. "Then let's stop them."
His mouth tightened and he nodded. "First, we have to get back to the TARDIS and move it somewhere hidden, so we can get back to it without having to go through a populated area."
She nodded and they went back outside. As they turned to run back to the TARDIS, she paused. A weak noise from behind her made her turn back to the table where one of the birds lay. She had assumed it was dead. She looked down on the bird and its golden eyes looked up at her. "Doctor." She called him over, but he was already there beside her.
He offered it a circus peanut, and it ate greedily from his hand. She looked down at its torn skin. It still had feathers, but the bigger and thicker ones were gone. Those she assumed were the ones with the poison. Its eyes still stared at her and she saw the plea for help. "Can we save it? Please?" she asked him.
He took it up into his arms and turned to the trees, trying to hurry while also trying not to jostle it. "I can't guarantee it will live." He said.
She smiled up at him as they sped through the trees. "It's enough that you try."
They didn't speak for the rest of the journey to the TARDIS. When they got back to the ship, the Doctor went straight to the infirmary, and Rose followed. The Balbox had gotten weaker on the short journey, and he was now unconscious. She watched as he placed it on a padded table, injected it with a blue liquid, and hooked it up to several machines. He spent several minutes analyzing readouts before he mixed something in a bowl and coated its wounds with it. After fastening a cone around its neck to keep it from injuring itself, should it wake up, he turned to her.
"That's all I can do for now. The TARDIS will try and help it all she can, but I'm not promising anything."
She felt warmth grow in her heart for this man, who saved a creature just because she asked him to. What else would he do if she asked? The look in his eyes made her believe he would do anything for her. She placed her hand on his shoulder, greedily enjoying the electric feeling she got from just a touch through his clothes (what would it be like to touch him without them?- she shook that question from her mind quickly, ashamed at herself for the inappropriate thought) and looked him in the eye.
"Thank you, Doctor."
His responding grin made her hearts leap. "Anything for you, Rose."
She blushed at his comment (which was ridiculous, because Gallifreyans do not blush!) and turned towards the door. "Let's go save a planet, shall we?"
He nodded enthusiastically and struck a racing pose. "Race you to the console room?"
She mimicked his stance. "You're on, Time Lord!"
They sprinted through the halls of the TARDIS to the console, crashing through the door in cacophonous laughter. She leapt over the jump seat and was the first to touch the console.
"I won!" She shrieked in victory, laughing.
"You cheated!" he said through his own laughter as he flipped levers and turned dials, moving the TARDIS from where they had landed it to its new position. His hearts were leaping excitedly in his chest, and it wasn't from the friendly race they had just had. It was from the affection he could see in her eyes, and the familiar feeling that was growing between them. Rose may not remember him, but she certainly fancied him. She felt comfortable enough with him to tease him, and that gave him the hope that he desperately needed.
"So, what's the plan now? How do we save the Balboxes and Lak'thi?" she asked.
He checked the monitor to make sure they were alone in the woods he had landed them in before opening the doors and beckoning her to follow.
"Weeeell" he began, navigating through the trees and using his sonic screwdriver to be sure they were alone. "This government is very strict. Any person caught trying to harm another person, especially a resident of Lak'thi, is charged with treason. The punishment for treason is death. This certainly qualifies, so really all we have to do is get them caught, which is why I landed us here." He said this as he pulled back the branches of a bush to bring a large house into view. "This is the Lak'thi embassy. It'll be a bit risky going in here, since it is likely our faces are on their wanted list. Breaking out of jail isn't exactly something they admire here."
Rose felt the adrenaline running through her system at the plan. It was a bit strange that she would find danger this exciting, and have no fear whatsoever. The Doctor had assured her earlier in the cell that the people of this planet didn't execute people who were not from their planet; they sent them back to their home. The worst that could happen is that they would be sent back to Gallifrey. To be honest, Gallifrey didn't really care what the Doctor did, considering he was a hero.
"How are we going to get in?" she asked, ready for the adventure to begin.
He held up his psychic paper, a dangerous grin on his face. "Meet Dr. Smith and his lovely assistant, Rose Tyler, investigators for the Intergalactic Domesticated Species Protection Agency." He put the paper back in his pocket and pulled the branches back for her to step through. "Are you ready, Miss Tyler?"
"Absolutely" she said, and he followed her up to the door of the house. It opened before they could knock, and a grumpy looking guard glared out at them.
"What do you want?" asked the guard, not looking particularly fond of being bothered at this hour.
The Doctor seemed oblivious to his mood and held up the psychic paper. "Hello, I'm Dr. Smith and this is my assistant Miss Tyler. We need to speak to the Ambassador."
The guard opened the door a bit more, still grumpy but looking a bit curious. "What is this regarding?" he said, gruffly.
"Top Secret" responded the Doctor, still grinning like an idiot. Rose almost rolled her eyes. Yeah, that excitement was subtle.
Oh? Sarcasm? Since when did she use that? This man was making her behave strangely.
They were escorted into the building and into the Ambassador's bedchambers, where he had just been getting ready for bed. With a flash of the psychic paper, the tired eyes of the Ambassador, who introduced himself as Bik'landi, popped open and alert.
"How can I help you, Dr. Smith?" he asked.
The Doctor motioned for the guards to leave, and the room was soon empty save the three of them. "I'm afraid my lovely assistant and I have stumbled upon a rather dangerous pair of men. Weeeelll, at least one of them is a man. Haven't actually seen the other one."
Bik'landi frowned. "What do you mean?"
The Doctor explained all they had seen and told the man the rendezvous point. The Ambassador immediately changed into proper clothes and took a score of guards with him to the fountain. The Doctor and Rose followed him there and they paused in the shadows, watching as the men met as planned and the man they had seen in the clearing handed the other a flask of viscous black liquid. The Doctor and Rose stepped out of the shadows, the guards and Ambassador waiting for his signal to arrest.
The Doctor wanted to give them one last chance.
"Hello, gentlemen!" he said, cheerily. The two men started, looking with alarm at the newcomer that was out after curfew.
"Who are you?" one of them shouted, reaching in his pocket. The Doctor had his sonic screwdriver trained on him in an instant. It wasn't a weapon, but the men didn't know that.
"I'm the Doctor. And I do believe that you are about to make a very bad decision."
"You know nothing of us." The other man said. He was bald and wore large glasses on his trunk-like nose.
"Unfortunately for you, I know enough. Stop this plan, now. I'm giving you this one chance. I won't help you after this."
The bald man spoke again. "You are not from here. You don't understand what we've gone through. We never should have ended the war! We could have won! We could have had both planets, but now we have to rely on those creatures for water! It is wrong and must be corrected."
Rose saw the Doctor's eyes harden and felt a shiver up her spine.
The Oncoming Storm
And it was gone as soon as it had come, like the last time.
"Then you will face the consequences." He looked at them again, and they could see they had made a grave mistake. "No second chances."
He waved his hand and the guards descended upon the two men.
It was a wonderfully victorious moment until a shout came from the guards that weren't busy arresting the criminals.
"Hey! You two! You're the ones who escaped! Arrest them!"
The Doctor looked at Rose with a grin. "Run!"
And they took off for the TARDIS, outrunning the guards easily and laughing hysterically as they entered the ship.
"So, Rose, shall we go get those birds and take them home?"
She nodded and watched excitedly as he moved the TARDIS to the clearing they had been in only a few hours previously. They quickly collected the cages, moving faster as they heard the sound of the guards coming to clean up the mess. The Doctor knew that the laboratory and bird bones inside would be plenty of evidence, and they soon had all the live birds in the TARDIS. The sounds were getting closer, so he quickly moved the TARDIS into the vortex.
They checked on the Balbox in the infirmary, and he was still alive and healing. The Doctor assured her that he was going to make it. He just needed a bit of rest.
"What do you say we have those chips now?" he said, as her stomach rumbled again.
"I'd love to!" she said excitedly, the sparkle he loved so much back in her eye.
He landed carefully on Lak'thi, making sure of the date and position of the TARDIS before opening the doors. He had landed them in the prettiest place he could think of, hoping to delight Rose and keep this closeness he had gained with her. He was falling in love with her even more, and he knew she was starting to fall for him too. He just wondered how long it would be before she remembered him in her mind, as well as her heart.
Rose stepped out of the doors of the TARDIS, a cage carefully held in her hands. The bird squawked happily at the sight of its home, and she gasped at the beautiful sight. He had landed them in a garden in the center of the city, with beautiful blue and gold flowers all around them. The un was high in the sky and the warmth of it sang along her skin. She opened the cage and the bird flew out, disappearing into the trees with a soft song from its beak.
They released all of the Balbox into the garden before closing the TARDIS door and leaving the garden. He led her down the street and into the small chip shop, her favorite chip shop in the cosmos. She sat at a booth and he ordered for her.
As she popped her first chip into her mouth, she laughed with delight.
"You like it?" he asked, grinning.
She smiled up at him and nodded, eating another. "Well worth the planet-saving."
They ate in relative silence, but the smiles never left their faces. When they were done and walking back to the TARDIS, he turned to her.
"So, care to have lunch with me tomorrow?"
She laughed. "Absolutely!"
His hearts leapt with excitement as they entered the ship and he put in the coordinates for home, twenty minutes after they had left. He stroked the console gently and thanked the TARDIS.
Turns out she had taken them to the right destination, after all.
A/N: I'm so very very sorry for the epically long update time! My life was calm and I had plenty of time to write, and then it exploded! I took a summer class, helped my friend redecorate his room, studied for the PCAT (which I have to take July 20th) and I was a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding. I feel so bad for leaving you for so long! I tried to make it up to you by making this chapter an extra long one. I will try my best to get the next chapter to you all sooner! Let me know what you thought of it!
With love,
doctorrosetyler