Child of Earth

By Lumendea

Chapter Twenty-Two: Dark Minds: The Son Appears

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

…

Rose stared at the stranger, taking in his face and almost twinkling brown eyes. She was aware of the UNIT Captains waiting for something and considered saying something. Given the rumours, they were probably startled that she wasn't hugging him or flirting. But this man wasn't the Doctor. And yet something about the kind way he was looking at her and just waiting kept her silent. There was no smugness like she might have expected from the Silver Lord or an agent of the Trickster. He might not have been the Doctor, but Rose was surprised to find her instinct while confused weren't alarmed.

"Captains, could you give us a moment," the stranger asked, turning and smiling at the two men who were looking at them in mild confusion. As they nodded and left the room, Rose kept her eyes on the stranger and had her right hand ready to summon her sword. His gaze dropped to her hand and he took a step back before she could summon it. The door closed with a soft thump and Rose wet her lips to prepare to speak. "Sorry about this," the man apologised. "I'm grateful you knew I wasn't him. That would have been awkward." He chuckled and smiled at her, adding, "But I'm also surprised that it didn't even take you a minute. I guess it's true that you really can recognise the Doctor no matter what."

"How did you get the TARDIS?" Rose demanded, slightly thrown by his easy going attitude.

"My TARDIS, well actually all of our TARDISes take on the police box shape on Earth or other human worlds," he explained calmly. He took a few steps back and pushed open the TARDIS doors. "I guess you could call it a quirk."

The pair of twin blue doors swung open revealing a gleaming white and brass console room. Rose stared at the ship for a long moment before tentatively stepping closer. As she reached out and touched the side, she could feel the soft hum that she'd come to associate with the TARDIS. Yet something about it was different, though Rose couldn't understand how she even noticed that.

"Sorry about saying I'm the Doctor," he told her with a soft smile. "I prefer not to impersonate him, but in this time period well it would be weird."

"Who are you?" Rose demanded weakly, turning back to him. "Are you….?"

"I'm Alistair," he replied gently with a smile. He turned away from her for a moment to close the doors. "Your son." At her startled expression, his grin only widened and he added, "Hello, Mummy." He gave her a small wave and looked far too amused with the situation.

Stepping towards him, Rose studied his features. The resemblance wasn't as strong as Astra was to her, but now she could see definite features from the Tenth Doctor in his face and he certainly had his father's hair. The easy-going confidence in his eyes was certainly familiar. Smiling, Rose exhaled and brought a hand up to touch his cheek.

"I've heard your name before, seen it too, I think."

"Astra has a bit of a gob like Dad," Alistair answered with a smile. "And my room in the TARDIS is still marked even in Dad's 'bowties are cool body' so both are possibilities." His smile was warm and he was completely at ease with her which reassured Rose more than anything. "Sorry I alarmed you, but right now saying I'm the Doctor is easiest. Can you imagine the panic that might ensue if UNIT learns that there are Time Lord children of Rose Tyler and the Doctor dashing around?"

She couldn't help it, Rose laughed at the idea and given how much she was worrying about timelines already that would just be impossible. Though it was funny and maybe a little heartbreaking to imagine the Ninth Doctor learning that they'd have children someday. She pushed thoughts of that Doctor away, unable to help the lingering hurt and anger she was still dealing with.

"I hope that Alistair has met you at least," she chuckled weakly. "I'd love to see his surprise when he learns that the Doctor named his son after him."

"Not at this point, but soon," Alistair assured her. "And from my understanding the day he finds out is amusing."

"Oh, Guardians," Rose laughed nervously. "You really are my son aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry, just… I knew Astra for years before I found out she was my daughter. And sure I met Athena, but that was just weird circumstances."

A pair of hands gripped her arms and Rose looked up to meet Alistair's eyes. He was looking at her softly, but firmly said, "Breathe, Rose."

His use of her name helped and Rose took in a long deep breath. Alistair shifted a bit impatiently but stayed nearby. When she'd recovered a bit, Rose shook her head and looked back at him.

"So what is going on here?" Rose questioned. "If you're here and pretending to be the Doctor so you can work with UNIT then it has to be something."

"It's alien to be sure," Alistair agreed. "But I'm not sure what it is yet." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Thank you for bringing Adam with you," Alistair told her as he glanced up at the ceiling. "I lost contact with Ella an hour ago, that's not supposed to happen. Whatever is doing this is hiding some impressive telepathic equipment or abilities."

"Ella? Who's Ella?"

"My wife," Alistair answered calmly. "Adam's mother."

"Wait Adam is your son?" Rose gasped as her mind careened to a halt. "I have a grandson?"

"Yes," Alistair agreed patiently only to get a surprised look from Rose.

"How old are you?" Rose questioned, half stumbling over the words. "I mean you have a family of your own?"

"I'm about two hundred," he answered calmly, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets. "And ageing very well for my first life if I do say so myself. And most people agree I'm more like you than Dad. Ella and I knew each other distantly as kids and when she started travelling with her father's old vortex manipulator-"

"Time Agent? She isn't Jack's-"

"Oh, Guardians no," Alistair gasped with a shudder. "No, oh, Guardians, no. Given his relationship with Athena and Mel-"

"What?" Rose pressed, hearing him start the third name. "Who is that? Is Jack-"

"No, no cheating, don't hurt him," Alistair interjected quickly before sighing and shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "Polyamorous relationship. Trust me we all like… her with them better than some of their other significant others they've had over the years." He sighed and straightened up. "Sorry, I'm usually more careful than this."

"Your wife is missing," Rose agreed with a nod, feeling a bit guilty for her curiosity. Especially since she really did know better. "Of course you're a little off. Will she be okay?"

"I'm confident of that," Alistair assured him, rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture very reminiscent of his father. "But their ability to interfere with telepathy means I can't talk with her. It's also why I couldn't find Adam until he was closer. You, future you, called me to reassure me and told me to come to UNIT."

"Temporal loop then," Rose muttered uneasily. "Lovely."

"Well I don't know the details," Alistair told her. "But we can do this. Three generations of Tylers."

"You want Adam to help?"

"Course, he's the best telepath in the family," Alistair chuckled. "Apparently interesting things happen when you mix Time Lord and Verlan DNA. Good thing the old Time Lords considered themselves above such things or the Time War could have taken an even worse turn."

"Verlan, you mean you married one of Eve's people?" Rose asked in confusion.

"No, Ella is only half Verlan," Alistair told her as he headed for the door. He turned and looked over his shoulder with a smile. "In fact, she's Eve's daughter."

"Eve's daughter? That means…" Rose's eyes widened in surprise even as she started to smile. "Eve and I share a grandson?!" Her voice went higher as a smile stretched across her face. "Wow!"

Alistair gave her a small grin, nodded and strode out the doorway. Rose's head hurt even as she hurried after Alistair. There was just too much going on around her for her to remain both outwardly and inwardly calm, something had to give. Her brain just kept tripping over Alistair being her son, but as she trailed after him she couldn't help but notice a lot of things about him. He strode down the hall like his father, all that missing was the billowing brown coat. Alistair was a bit broader in the shoulders, probably got that from her side of the family, but then again Rose had no idea how much the appearance of the Doctor's prior forms could influence his children. After all of those forms were still part of his DNA. When Alistair regenerated would he resemble another prior form of his father's or would his own DNA scramble and create something totally new?

It occurred to her that had she tried to contact Adam's aunt that she would have found herself talking to Astra or Athena. Maybe it was a good thing she'd decided against doing that in the middle of Kollwitzplatz, but then again maybe she would have been more prepared for what was happening now. She was distracted, still smarting over the Ninth Doctor leaving after the Dalek and her own distraction over school. That needed to stop. Something was happening and her daughter-in-law had taken. And wow that was a strange thought to have.

"Relax, Mum," Alistair whispered in a low voice. "You're thinking too much."

"Sorry, I just… I'm not sure," she offered weakly. "Can you hear me?"

"A bit," Alistair answered as they walked past one of the guards. "You do realise that Adam influenced you when you two met?"

"What? Are you sure?" Rose gasped as an icy feeling washed over her.

"Yeah, he didn't mean to I'm sure," Alistair assured her. "But he knew who were you, but that you were younger. That's why you were compelled to trust him and keep him with you. I'm sure he wanted to stay close to you without having to risk the timelines. His time sense isn't developed yet so he wouldn't have felt the closed causal loop."

"Oh," Rose forced out, aware of a headache brewing at the front of her skull.

She wondered if after Astra she should be more at ease with this, but then again how could anyone ever be calm about meeting a future child. She looked back at Alistair, it sinking in that he was her son. Suddenly, Rose stopped and grabbed his hand to stop him moving. As he turned to look at her, Rose shifted next to him and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Alistair made a small sound of surprise that quickly changed into a warmly pleased hum.

"Hello, Mum," he whispered softly, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's nice to meet you," Rose breathed before she forced herself to let go. "Uh sorry about that."

"Don't be," Alistair assured her kindly. "I'm a Time Lord and I've never had to meet a child before they existed. Seems like the sort of thing that would throw a person."

Nodding, Rose stepped back and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment and firmly told herself to calm down. Something weird was going on and this wasn't the time to be giddy over having a son. Three children: Athena, Astra, and Alistair. Apparently, she had decided to just keep the A thing going. Though… she'd met them so it wasn't really a decision was it? She was literally maintaining the timeline by giving them the correct names that she'd learned by crossing timelines.

"Sorry," Rose apologised, shaking her head and forcing a smile. "Okay, what do we do?"

"I need to see if Adam noticed anything at Kollwitzplatz," he informed her as he started walking again. "It might help me find Ella or figure out what species we're dealing with."

"You're very calm for your wife being taken," Rose observed as she looked at Alistair in the corner of her eye.

"We have a telepathic bond," he explained in a low voice. "It's hard to explain… I can't talk to her right now, but I can feel her. She's… fuzzy, but not in pain. Probably unconscious which isn't good, but she's not being hurt." H paused and licked his lips quickly. "These aliens might not be hostile. I need to take a look at Kollwitzplatz myself."

"If Adam is telepathic then why didn't they take him?"

"Ella is capable of shielding his presence," Alistair explained as they entered the stairwell and began to climb up. "Probably didn't want to risk him being taken."

Rose looked at her son's, and wasn't that crazy to think, face and noted that he wasn't as calm as he was trying to appear. He must have realised that she was a touch overwhelmed. Reaching over, he snagged her hand and squeezed it. The feeling wasn't as nice as it was with the Doctor, but Rose definitely felt a bit warmer at the contact.

It wasn't hard to get to Adam, the UNIT guards all straighten up as they passed which seemed to both amuse and irritate Alistair as it did his father. Alistair went straight to the lounge where Adam was on the floor with some paper and crayons. Rose immediately felt a rush of relief that UNIT had kept their promise. The boy looked up the instant they stepped into the room and jumped to his feet with a grin.

"Da- Doctor," Adam greeted with a soft blush after catching himself.

"I'm sorry, sir," Private Mueller greeted uneasily. "We weren't aware that-"

"He's the son of my companion," Alistair told Private Mueller. Rose supposed that was technically true. "Telepathic species, he can help us with the investigation."

"Uh as you wish, Doctor," Private Mueller answered with a nod, straightening up sharply.

"Come along, Adam, Rose. We need to go back at Kollwitzplatz."

Rose looked down at Adam who calmly beamed up at her. Again it hit her that this was her future grandson and she thought her legs might just give out on her. She'd never met Susan and sadly knew that she never would, but felt a sharp pang at that as she looked at Adam. The boy seemed to know her train of thought as he reached up and took her hand before calmly looking at his father. Rose barely stayed on her feet as she took in Adam's features and debated if he had Eve's nose.

"Excellent!" Alistair announced. "Allons-y!"